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EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville went toe-to-toe with one of the St. Louis area's top teams in Nerinx Hall Wednesday afternoon.
The Tigers, in fact, held the lead most ot the way thanks to an early first-half Natalie Nava goal, but the Markers scored with a bit more than five-and-a-half minutes left to send the game to overtime,then scored a couple of minutes into the 10-minute session to take a 2-1 win over Edwardsville at Tiger Stadium. Edwardsville fell to 6-7-2 on the season, while Nerinx improved to 9-5.
“There were only five minutes left when they got their first goal,” said Tiger coach Jaimee Phegley. “For us to hold them for 55 minutes (with a top-ranked team), I was really excited and really happy for them; we definitely controlled the game, and then those last five minutes, once they got that one away – and even then, we played to the end when that goal got called back for them (the Markers had an apparent game-winning goal right before the siren to end regulation time called back).
“Overtime just wasn't ours today; it just happened – they got one off on us too fast.”
Phegley felt the Tigers had played well throughout the game. “I wish we weren't having the same conversation we were having about them playing well (following the Tigers' 4-1 loss to Villa Duschene Monday) but ending with a loss, but for them to hold them to no goals for 55 minutes, I was very proud of them for that,” Phegley said. “They're not an easy team; I mean, they're ranked No. 1 (in the St. Louis area) – we were going to be excited to stay with them. We ran it and really ran the game, so I was happy with that.”
Nava's early goal couldn't keep the Markers from attacking the Edwardsville net for most of the game. “Everyone on our side had to play more defensive because of that,” Phegley said, “holding the ball for that entire time frame after our goal – that's a hard job to do; to be in that defensive position as opposed to be able to keep attacking.
“I was really glad with the girls in the way they were moving towards the goal; we changed some things with our forwards and I thought they had some good passing going on – there were a few that were right there, they were right next to the goalie and they just didn't quite make it in there.”
Nava's goal at 4:38 held up most of the way, with the Tiger defense managing to hold off Marker tries at tying the game before Nerinx's Grace Woods finally beat Tiger netminder Sarah Blume at 54.26 to bring the Markers level; not long afterwards, Nerinx seemed to had scored what would be a game-winner but the umpires disallowed the goal on a violation to send the game into a 10-minute sudden-death overtime.
The Markers took possession in Edwardsville's end of the field early on and sent Sydney Carr towards goal, where she found the ball in a scramble and put it behind Blume for the game-winner at 62:34.
Edwardsville hosts St. John School of Houston in a 2 p.m. Saturday game at Tiger Stadium; St. John will meet Cor Jesu at Tiger Stadium following their game against the Tigers.
