ALTON – Edwardsville's 5-0 field hockey win over Marquette Catholic at Gordon Moore Park Monday afternoon was highlighted by two goals from Maren McSparin and a goal from Allie Hosto that helped spark the Tigers to a four-goal first half.
“I was on the goalie; I was trying to make sure I could get it in,” McSparin said about her first goal. “On the second one, I was trying to flick it in to the corner and it got past the goalie (Katelyn Fitzgerald) and the defenders and it went right into the corner.”
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That McSaprin's goals helped the Tigers get off ot a good start following their 3-2 season-opening loss to Kirkwood Friday was i
mportant. “It definitely set the mood for the rest of the game,” McSparin said. “We came into the game saying, 'oh, it's (a) grass (field)' and we knew we could play on it; that first goal proved that we were going to do our best and we were able to get some good passes to get down the field.
“It was really exciting, like we proved that one bad game isn't going to ruin the rest of our year; we were able to mentally regroup and play our best.”
“It was very nice to connect our passes, especially on a surface like this,” Hosto, who got the third EHS goal, said. “We're used to playing on turf, so it was nice to actually connect our passes together and get up and score goals.
“It was a (short) corner (on Hosto's goal) and I was waiting on the post; I just saw the ball come and I just hit it in.”
Hosto is happy with how the Tigers are coming along thus far. “The overall dynamic of the team is really positive,” Hosto said. “It's a lot different than it has been in the past few years; I feel we all have very good skills and we're all using each other to the best of our ability. We use each other very well like off-ball or if you're on the ball; our passing is a lot stronger and we're not afraid to use our wings and our back-passes this year.”
