NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Edwardsville girls soccer team tried to end its first ever state tournament on a high note in the third-place game Saturday afternoon at North Central College, but it wasn’t meant to be.
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Edwardsville lost 4-2 in the pouring rain to Fremd High School, finishing in fourth place.
It is the first state title of any kind in program history.
“You want to just be excited that you got here, but when you’re competitors, you’re not happy with fourth place,” Edwardsville head coach Abby Federmann said. “ So, I think when we sit back and actually process what just happened, we’ll be proud of ourselves, but right now we’re just a little bit frustrated.”
The game got started on the wrong foot when Fremd scored on a 25-yard freekick in the 10th minute.
Ava Catherall stepped up and took the kick and after the ball deflected off of Gemma Gillespie, Edwardsville goalkeeper Genny Burroughs had no chance of making the save.
“I think we came out slow,” Federmann said. “I think maybe we underestimated them because of how hard we fought against New Trier, we thought maybe we could get this in the bag, but that first goal kind of put us down.”
New Trier beat Edwardsville 2-1 the night before in the second Class 3A semifinal of the night.
The Trevians went on to beat St. Charles North in the championship game, winning their seventh state title in the final game on Saturday.
Edwardsville did show fight in the third-place game, tying things up in the 50th minute on an indirect freekick from about 30 yards away.
Mea Hook nudged the ball to Ellie Neath whose shot went off the right post and in. It was her 17th goal of the season.
Fremd would score in the 56th and 61st minutes to regain a lead, this time by two goals.
In the 68th minute Kylie Peel nailed the crossbar, but followed up on her own rebound and put it in to get back within reaching distance at 3-2.
The senior captain was sure to soak in the historic experience.
“It’s really special, especially to be the first team to get this far, and especially my senior year, it means a lot,” she said after the game.
With just under five minutes to play, Fremd netted a fourth to put the game to bed and take third place. It was Fremd’s fourth trip to state where it took second in 2007 and 2009 and fourth in 2011.
It was still a successful season for Edwardsville who finished the year at 17-5-1.
“It’s history, but you know, you want more. You want it all,” Federmann said. “We’re a better team than fourth place, but we’re here, we got this big trophy and it’s awesome."
“It’s been so great, especially since we’ve never been here before,” Peel said. “To get here and experience this is great.”
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