East Alton-Wood River's girls soccer team went into Saturday's match of their Oiler Classic tournament against North County Tech of St. Louis knowing Roxana had claimed the tournament title in the earlier match.
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The younger Oilers, especially, got some valuable experience in the match against the Eagles as EA-WR took a 8-2 win at Wood River Soccer Park.
“We got a good win today,” said Oiler coach Matt Herndon. “We were able to work on some things and give some of our JV players some varsity experience; they got to see what it's like playing at the varsity level and that's always a good thing. We did make a few mistakes, but it's things we can learn from.”
It was also a learning experience for the Eagles; many of the players on their roster are first-year players, and despite the loss, Eagle coach Pat Hanneken was pleased with the effort.
“Our goal coming into the game was to hold them as best as we could and hopefully score a goal or two ourselves,” Hanneken said. “We were able to do that.
“We saw the tournament as a chance to get ready for our regular season. We just want the girls to go out there and have fun while enjoying the game.”
The Oilers wasted no time in getting on the board, Shannon Inman getting the first goal of the match in the eighth minute. Lauren Reynolds took only two mintues to extend the lead to 2-0 when she collected a rebound off the crossbar and knocked it home in the 10th minute.
Madison Shewmake made it 3-0 in the 25th minute when she took a pass and goaled; Inman then scored at the half-hour when, with the Eagle goalkeeper off her line, she gathered a loose ball in the penalty area and tapped it home. Brittany Grayson then made it 5-0 in the 40th minute when her shot just managed to squeeze over the goal line at the far post.
Reynolds scored her second goal in the 41st minute and Chrissy Long made it 7-0 on a penalty kick in the 52nd minute. The Eagles' Tegan Stith broke up the shutout in the 55th minute when she scored from the top of the penalty area, but Long scored in the 57th minute to restore the seven-goal lead. North County's Cierra Outland ended the scoring in the 59th minute.
The Oilers head back into action with a 4 p.m. Tuesday home match against Beardstown.
