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EDWARDSVILLE - The last time a boys soccer team at Alton High School finished above break-even was 2017, when the Redbirds went 10-9-2. Before that, in 2014, Alton finished at 11-7-3. However, under head coach Greg Nasello, the Redbirds are primed for an excellent season in 2024.
Today, a group of determined and hard-working players - nine seniors, and a good mix of sophomores and juniors - are determined to help put Alton soccer back onto the map.
The Redbirds have started 3-2-0, including a loss at Edwardsville 1-0 on Sept.5, and have shown vast improvement and a spirit that the doldrums of the Redbirds may well be a thing of the past.
The Redbirds have come out with a strong offense, defense, solid goalkeeping, and a fighting spirit that will see the team through as the season progresses toward the Class 3A playoffs in late October and early November.
"It's not just the improvement of their skills, it's the mental state," said Redbird head coach Greg Nasello, in his second year of his second tour of duty with the club after the loss to the Tigers,"because we've got them really playing hard You see them, they don't quit. We're coming and coming, and whatever happens, happens."
He continued: "I'm really proud of our efforts there, and one of the things we try to stress in our program, we want to play maximum effort at all times, we want to stay mentally engaged. And then, the biggest thing, of course, is to be courageous, try things. I thought we tried that tonight. We had a couple of shots from distance, we had a couple of guys try to take guys on in the danger spots. It just didn't go our way, but it was a good game."
Strikers Gage Anderson and Dillan Cowen lead the Redbirds with four goals each, thus far, while Cha Fournie is right behind with three on the young season. Goalkeeper Patrick Henesey has allowed eight goals, with 13 saves. As a team, the Redbirds have conceded nine goals, and have scored, and have scored 13 themselves. More importantly, the team has a never-say-die attitude that has helped them tremendously.
"it's easy to see it. Ir really is," a very pours Nasello said, "I give that to the players, because they worked in the off-season, my coaching staff has done a great job as we do training sessions from the summer to now, getting everybody to the best of our ability I love it, I think they've been great."
It didn't go unnoticed by longtime Edwardsville coach MarkHeiderscheid, who is happy to see the Redbirds doing much better.
"Yeah, Alton's just incredibly improved," Heiderscheid said. "It's not a surprise, Greg Nasello is a fantastic coach. He and I have been around for so many years. So, I bet between club and high school. we've probably coached against each other 100 times," Heiderscheid said with a laugh. "His mark in those two years is amazing in what he's really done with those kids and stuff."
There are some tough games ahead for the Redbirds, including games against the always unpredictable Southwestern Conference, against St Louis schools such as University City, Parkway North, and the Riverbend Derby against Marquette Catholic, among other opponents Nasello will make sure his players are up and rising for the challenges.
"Well, I'll tell you what. I hope we keep building on it," Nasello said, "but we're in a tough conference, and anything can happen every night, as you just saw here. Every game's a fight, no matter who you're playing, so you've got to be ready for that We've had a couple of games in between that hopefully, we can win. We've got another big game coming up with Marquette, and then next week, Belleville West, then we're Parkway (North), then we're going to Marquette, and then, after that, it's Collinsville, it's O'Fallon, and it just keeps going.
"That's the only downside of being a (Class) 3A team, is that you're always, always going to have to play another game this weekend. It was a good game, though, good fight. I'm proud of my guys. they didn't quit. Right now, we've just got to get healthy; that's our biggest thing. We've had a couple of guys that are out, and we've got a couple of guys nursing injuries out here, but we're playing through it. Once I think we get everybody there, we are going to be fine."
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