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EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's girls' soccer team clashed with Waterloo in a Group A match of the season-opening Metro Girls Cup tournament's Nike Bracket at Tiger Stadium Wednesday evening.
While the Tigers took the lead about midway through the first half, a 68th-minute goal by the Bulldogs' Sydney Stephens forced EHS to settle for a 1-1 draw in their second match of group play. Both teams are now 1-0-1 for the season and the tournament, each side now has four points in the standings (three points for a win, one point each for a draw).
Tiger coach Abby Federmann felt the draw could be of benefit for the Tigers as the season goes on, however. “Waterloo came out aggressive,” Federmann said. “They had a strategy; they stuck to it. Our girls came out and played the game they know how to play; sometimes, you have to change it up. We're going to work on how to get those changes done quicker; sometimes that's what it all boils down to.”
Part of Waterloo's tactical strategy was to put several players on Edwardsville's Sydni Stevens after her six-point match (two goals, two assists) against Belleville East Monday night. “At the beginning of the game, it seemed like they were sandwiching (Stevens) up top, putting two or three people on her,” Federmann said, “which is a smart thing to do – she's an outstanding player.
“We made some adjustments and we scored; by making those adjustments, getting (Rileigh) Kuhns forward, which worked out really well. Our defense was solid today; I didn't have any issues with what our defense was doing – we just have to work the ball through the middle a little bit better, and that comes with a little bit more experience as the season goes on; I'm sure we'll get there.”
Kuhns got the Tigers' only goal of the match in the 24th minute when she got ahold of the ball from a feed from Stevens and got it past Bulldog goalkeeper Bailey Bosler to put EHS up 1-0.
The lead lasted until the 68th minute when Waterloo's Paige Kinzinger found an opening and slipped the ball to Stephens, who fired a shot past Tiger goalkeeper Regan Windau to even proceedings. Both teams had opportunities for a goal down the stretch, but couldn't find the back of the net and both teams split the points.
Wednesday's other Group A match saw Belleville East bounce back from Monday's loss to Edwardsville with a 4-3 win over Rochester. The group standings through Wednesday has Edwardsville and Waterloo tied at 1-0-1 for four points each, with East 1-1-0 for three points and Rochester 0-2-0 for no points;
The Tigers return to the pitch at 5:30 p.m. this evening as they take on Rochester at Tiger Stadium; Alton will meet Triad in a Group B match following the Tiger-Rocket match at 7:30 p.m.
