EDWARDSVILLE – Monday's weather conditions weren't the best for a soccer match.
Temperatures hovered around the freezing mark and a steady wind blew the length of the field at Tiger Stadium as Edwardsville and Marquette Catholic met each other in their season openers and their opening matches of the season-opening Metro Girls Cup tournament's Adidas Bracket.
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The Tigers, coming off being eliminated in last year's IHSA Class 3A regional by Granite City, got second-half goals from Abby Crabtree, Sydni Stevens and Paityn Schneider to defeat the Explorers, who took third in last year's IHSA Class 1A tournament, by a 3-0 count.
The Tigers went to 1-0-0 on the year and advanced to a 6 p.m. Wednesday semifinal match against Rochester, who defeated Belleville East 2-1 in Monday's opening match; the Explorers will meet the Lancers at 8 p.m. Wednesday, with both matches set for Tiger Stadium.
“We came out, with it being our first game, and had to work out our kinks in the first half,” said Tiger coach Abby Comerford. “Once we got out first goal, we quickly got our second and third.
“Sydni's really been working hard these past two weeks (since preseason practice got under way); it's really nice to be able to see her in game play and be able to put it in the back of the net.”
Getting the first win under their belts in their opening match gave the Tigers a lift, Comerford felt. “We've been practicing for two weeks,” Comerford said. “Being able to put in what we've been practicing on in a game, it's good to see.
“Marquette has always been a really tough team; being able to come out and get that first win against them is always really big.”
“We just ran out of gas,” said Explorer coach Steve Mitchell. “The first 40 minutes was an even match; we had some chances and they had some chances. They weren't moving the ball around because we had some energy, we were moving. The game plan was there; they played fantastic soccer and they've got a great team.
“The first 40 minutes, we were right there; we just ran out of gas in the second half. The weather (Monday) really takes the air out of your tank, but they played well. I'm happy about the way we played in the first half; second half, not so much, but it was because we ran out of gas.”
Crabtree's goal came at the hour, her shot finding the way to the back of the net past Explorer goalkeeper Lauren Fischer; Stevens followed with a goal in the 68th minute and Schnider scored in the 71st minute to give Edwardsville all they needed, with Regan Windau and Mason Evans sharing the shutout. Stevens, Libby Bateman and Megan Woll each had assists on the night for the Tigers.
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