The St. Louis Soccer Classic produced a pair of winners last weekend in its two divisions. One team continued to come up aces as it has all season while the other passed a series of tough tests.
In the White Division, Granite City continued its perfect roll through the season's start.
The Warriors (8-0, No. 2 in STLhighschoolsports.com large-schools rankings) finished off an undefeated weekend by beating Parkway South 2-0 Saturday afternoon. That win came after victories over Cor Jesu and previously unbeaten Nerinx Hall.
“It was great,” Granite City sophomore midfielder Megan Jones said. “It really wasn't our focus, it's just how it turned out. Our focus has always been just that one game at a time.”
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The three wins helped the Warriors amass 25 points, enough to easily win the group.
Granite City coach Kenny Prazma said he loved the heart showed by the team all weekend, which was evident in a comeback victory against Cor Jesu to start the tournament.
“I felt that it went well for us and the girls showed character by coming back in our first game from a 1-0 deficit,” Prazma said. “They played two solid games on Saturday. Our focus in the tournament was to play good competition. Winning the division was just a huge plus for us.”
Five different players scored Granite City's five goals in the tournament.
Like Granite City, Incarnate Word (11-1-1, No. 1 small-schools) was the only unbeaten team in its division and tallied 26 points to win the Green division title.
The Red Knights earned victories against Kickapoo, Bartlett (Ill.) and Collinsville.
“I think our girls had a great weekend,” Red Knights coach Beth Sims said. “We knew going in to the weekend it was going to be a test, both physically and mentally. Playing three games in a 24-hour period really takes a toll on the girls and we knew our competition was going to be top-notch. We really stressed taking it one game at a time and not looking ahead to the next game. I think we played this whole weekend as a team, more than we have all year. Each person did her part in each game and that is the main reason we were able to come out on top.”
Emily Groark's three goals helped the Red Knights accomplish something they set out to do from the start of the season.
“This was a goal for our team going in to the season, as we haven't won this tournament in quite a long time,” Sims said. “There are still some things we need to clean up, and some things we need to iron out, but we are moving in the right direction, and getting better with each game.”
ALTHOFF DEFENSE STOPPING COMPETITION COLD
One thing has been true all season for Althoff (7-2-1, No. 3 SS).
When the Crusaders beat teams, their defense keeps the other side from denting the scoreboard in any way. All seven of their wins have come by shutout.
“I feel like we're really playing well as a team and that has meant so much,” sophomore midfielder Emelia O'Neill said. “We all know that we just want to go out every day and work as hard as we can and do the best that we can. We know that's we're going to play some huge schools and we want to go out there and know we have a chance not only to compete, but to win.”
Not only is Althoff's defense stopping the opposition, its offense is lighting things up to the tune of 4.8 goals per game.
Althoff will get that chance to measure itself against some big schools as games with Edwardsville, Belleville West, Belleville East, Triad and Collinsville are on the horizon.
That may not be a bad thing though, considering the Crusaders' offensive firepower and the team's defensive prowess.
Through 10 games, the Crusaders already have three players — O'Neill, senior midfielder Amanda Kaltwasser and freshman midfielder Liesl Whitener — who have each scored 10 goals or more already.
“That scoring depth from players of different ages is important because it means a lot for the future,” said Crusaders coach Juergen Huettner, who picked up his 200th career coaching win earlier this season.
TIMBERLAND FIGHTS THROUGH OFFENSIVE FUTILITY
For 500 minutes of game time earlier this season, Timberland couldn't buy a goal.
Then, as a stroke of luck — and hard work — would have it, things turned on a dime for the Wolves (3-5).
Much to the chagrin of coach Emily Eberhardt, losses to Pattonville, Zumwalt West, Howell Central, Granite City and Liberty North all came with a big offensive doughnut.
“At times, you question things,” Eberhardt said. “We knew coming in, it would take us a little time to figure out our formation, our identity. We had a couple of key players coming back from injury and we had to integrate three freshmen. Any time that happens, you expect a lull. We were getting to the point where we were unsure that what we were doing was the right path.”
Even though Timberland was technically shut out for a sixth time, including 20 minutes of overtime as well, it snapped its losing streak by beating Francis Howell in penalties.
Eberhardt said getting back to winning ways came down to finding a morsel of confidence. That came in penalties.
“There were no gimmies in that stretch, the GAC is always tough,” Eberhardt said. “Our girls just needed a little confidence. The fact that we pulled it together with defense and goalkeeping was big. We were only giving up one to two goals a game and you'd expect to get that much offensively.”
In a 5-0 win April 6 against Francis Howell North, senior Alexis Nischbach scored three goals while senior Devin Cross and freshman Kat Van Booven had one each.
Sophomore back Abby Cozzoni said she felt a huge monkey come off her unit's collective back with the back-to-back shutout wins.
“It definitely got frustrating,” Cozzoni said. “At the same time, it was all of us. It was hard to get the ball up to them for them to score. It made it more frustrating and nerve-wracking on (the defense) because we also couldn't help them put the ball in the net.”
QUICK KICKS
• After losing its first three games, DuBourg has rebounded nicely. The Cavaliers (3-3-1) own recent wins over Lutheran St. Charles, Hazelwood Central and Affton to get back to .500.
• Lafayette got off to a strong start before a bit of a recent hiccup. The Lancers (4-1-1) opened the season with four consecutive wins before losing to Fort Zumwalt West and tying Pattonville.
• The 16th annual Troy Tournament continues through Thursday as Lindbergh, Troy, Liberty, Oakville and Holt vie for the title.
