BELLEVILLE – Edwardsville's Abby Crabtree and Paityn Schneider had goals in last week's IHSA Class 3A Belleville West girls soccer regional semifinal against O'Fallon that sent them to the regional final against the host Maroons recently; the Tigers defeated the Maroons on a second-half Sydni Stevens goal to reach the semifinals of their own sectional tournament, set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Tiger Stadium against Collinsville.
The match against the Panthers got off to a slow start for EHS, but once Crabtree fond the back of the net, things began to open up for them. “We had a slow start to begin with,” Crabtree said. “We were able to pick it up a little bit and connect a little more; sometimes, not scoring is just how soccer is.”
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In their regular-season Southwestern Conference match in O'Fallon just a week before the regional, Edwardsville had dealt OTHS a 7-1 loss; the Panthers tightened things up for the regional match. “I thought they had better defense,” Crabtree said. “They have a very strong girl in the back that didn't play very much much last game (Tamia Cash); she's a fantastic player. She was big in the back for them.”
“Once we got it (the ball) on the ground, we were fine; that's how the first goal started,” Schneider said.
On her own goal that made it 2-0 later in the first half, “It started as a throw-in, but it bounced around and (Emma) Hensley put it in (towards goal) and I was able to finish it with my head,” Schneider said. “I think they had more pressure on us (at the start of the match), but we settled in well and we were able to pass around it.”
Before Friday's win over the Maroons, the Tigers hadn't gotten past the regional final the previous two seasons. Last week's win over the Panthers helped give EHS motivation to advance into the sectional. “I think it's a big, big deal; we're really happy to be here,” Schneider said, “especially the seniors.”
For the season, Crabtree leads the Tigers in scoring with 12 goals and three assists for 27 points (two points for a goal, one for an assist) while Schneider has six goals and two assists for 14 points.
The sectional final is set for 6 p.m. Friday, with the winner moving to the May 30 Normal Community Super-Sectional against the Orland Park Sandburg Sectional winner.
