ALTON - Edwardsville scored all of its goals in the first half as the Tigers bounced back from a tough loss at Collinsville Tuesday night to defeat Alton 4-0 in a Southwestern Conference boys soccer match Thursday at Piasa Motor Fuels Stadium.
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Both teams, in fact, were coming off tough losses in their previous matches: Edwardsville lost to the Kahoks 1-0 on a late second half own goal, while the Redbirds had fallen to Belleville East in a 10-round penalty shootout after drawing with the Lancers 1-1 after extra time in Alton's senior night match.
The Tigers started off the scoring in the third minute when Conner Kelley scored off a brilliant Chris Agwuedo crossing pass to put the Tigers ahead 1-0. Eli Bateman then doubled the Edwardsville lead after 12 minutes on a free kick from outside the box to make it 2-0. Senior Brennan Weller then made it 3-0 for Edwardsville in the 22nd minute on a shot from close in off a scramble. Bateman then got his brace (second goal) in the 39th minutes, getting a good pass from Ben Matthews and finishing to put the Tigers up 4-0 at the interval.
The second half saw no goals, although the Redbirds did have some good chances, but goalkeeper Kadin Chiapelli was able to keep the clean sheet in getting the 4-0 win for Edwardsville.
The Tigers are now 6-2-0 on the season, and face a rematch against O'Fallon at home on Tuesday night, the Panthers having won at O'Fallon almost two weeks earlier 4-3 after extra time. O'Fallon has the lead in the conference race, with both the Tigers and Collinsville currently in a dead heat for second place, a game behind the Panthers.
The Redbirds fall to 1-8-0 and next play Triad at home on Saturday afternoon, then are at Collinsville next Tuesday and at Belleville West next Thursday.
