EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's field hockey team dropped a pair of decisions in a preseason exhibition Saturday at St. Joseph's Academy in St. Louis County.
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The Tigers were defeated 2-1 by the host Angels and then fell to Villa Duchesne 4-0 in their matches.
Despite the losses, Tiger coach Julia Tyler was pleased with how her team looked. “We played well,” Tyler said. “It's the start of the season and we played two tough teams, but we looked pretty well. We have an idea now on what we need to work on going into the season and where we are right now.
“Our attack was pretty good and we played strong defense. We had some good opportunities, we just didn't finish them when we had the chance. Overall, we played well.”
The Tigers lost 10 players to graduation from last year's 18-6-2 team. Combined with a 17-win season in 2013, EHS has emerged as one of the top teams in the St. Louis area.
“Our goal this year is to repeat the success we've had,” Tyler said. “We are definitely starting the season with a target on our back; the St. Louis schools won't be underestimating us again. We want to stay focued and determined throughout the season.”
Edwardsville will be returning six s
eniors to this year's edition; they're Maddie Rasche, Claire Smith, Maren Hampton, Jennifer Werner, Brooke Thornton and Ryley Miller. They'll be joined by juniors Olivia Fink, Veronica Carrow, Kristina Johnson, Katrina Springman and Annie Mulford and sophomores Ansley Dorsey, Natalie Nava, Allie Hosto and Sophia Swalley.
“We're going to be a young team this year,” Tyler said, “but we'll have good players with a lot of potential. We've got players who can play several positions, so we'll have both depth and flexibility available to us.
“We're looking forward to the season and we think we'll have a good one.”
