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EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville boys soccer coach Mark Heiderscheid heard a lot of folks talking about the upcoming high school soccer season about the time preseason practice was getting ready to start.
A lot of the talk focused on Belleville West.
“At the beginning of summer, everyone was talking about West,” Heiderscheid said. “When we were talking to other coaches around, everyone saw West.”
But in the end, it was Edwardsville who ended up on top as the Tigers defeated the Maroons 2-0 in Saturday morning's IHSA Class 3A Edwardsville Regional final to advance to next week's Rock Island Sectional; they'll take on Collinsville, who defeated Quincy 2-1 in Friday night's Springfield Regional final, in a semifinal match at 5 p.m. Tuesday at O'Fallon, with the winner going to the sectional final at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Rock Island with a spot in the Normal Community Super-Sectional on the line.
The Tigers got goals from Bayne Noll – his third of the postseason – in the eighth minute and Cooper Nolan at the hour to advance to the sectional.
“That's huge,” Heiderscheid said of Noll's early goal. “For our part, I think it was very critical because we defend very well and we limit chances very well.”
Nolan's goal came from a rebound; the Maroons' goalkeeper stopped a Jacob Mulvihill shot, but the ball bounced over to Nolan, who put it away to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Edwardsville advanced to the sectional with a 16-1-3 record; the Maroons were eliminated at 12-8-3.
