Hearts, Bulldogs, Indians Nab Soccer Wins

Effingham High School hosted Salem in Apollo Conference soccer play Tuesday and blanked the Wildcats 4-0.

Andrew Bingham connected on a goal with an assist by Sean Zerrusen with 14:34 left in the first half. Michael Carie then scored as Zerrusen assisted once again at the 1:56 mark in the first half.

In the second half, Zerrusen scored an unassisted goal with 36:43 left. Hendrik Bolter then scored on an assist by Jacob Gadberry with 36:01 remaining.

The Hearts took 18 shots on goal while Salem had five. Frank Kasdorf had five saves. Salem's Colten Spencer had 13 saves.

The Hearts are now 2-1-4 in the conference, 6-5-5 overall.

At Effingham

Effingham St. Anthony's field was a bit slippery and muddy but the Bulldogs didn't let that daunt them in a 5-2 victory over Centralia Christ Our Rock Lutheran Tuesday.

"We came out with our 10 minute funk as CORS took advantage of it and took some nice shots on goal," said St. Anthony Coach Eric Morales. "We woke up seven minutes into the game. James Kabbes took a corner kick, sending it right into Peter Keller who conencted for the first goal. But one minute later CORS came right back with their corner kick, also sending one into the back fo the net tying the game at 1-1."

The game went back and forth for 15 minutes with St. Anthony pressuring CORS. With nine minutes left in the half, Thomas Stephens took a breakaway down the center, finding Ryan Kruger for a through ball and putting it into the back of the net. Minutes later, on a foul, the Bulldogs were given a free kick from about 20 yards out and Kruger threaded it between two players and into goal ending the half with St. Anthony on top 3-1.

"The start of the second half was much of the same," said Morales. "We pressured CORS over and over. With two minutes into the second half, Chandler Martelli threw the ball in, only to find the foot of Peter who quickly connected on the goal and we were up 4-1. Shortly after that, CORS took a shot from the outside skipipng the ball right past our goalie and were within 4-2. Just one point five minutes later, Thomas was dribblng on a breakway to the goal, then was tripped from  behind. He was given a penalty kick and put us up 5-2.

"Finishing the game, James Kabbes led Ryan with a nice pass to finish with his third goal. We played very well. We try to rotate our whole bench as much as possible this close to regionals. I try to play safe soccer, rather than clumsy to prevent any season-ending injuries."

Nick Grunloh finished with 10 saves. CORS keeper had 11 saves. St. Anthony rounded out the night with 24 shots on goal. The Bulldogs are now 15-4-2 and will host Teutopolis Thursday during Senior Night.

At Arthur

Altamont handed Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond a 3-2 loss. AL/AH took a 1-0 first half lead.

The Indians came back in the second half on a goal by Thomas Caravello to knot the score at 1-1. Christian Freezeland then pushed the Indians ahead with a goal. Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond tied the score at 2-2.

With two minutes remaining in the game, Altamont's Jesus Flores scored giving the Indians the 3-2 victory. Altamont had 10 shots, five on goal. Childerson had five keeper saves. AL/AH had seven shots on goal and two keeper saves.

Altamont is now 6-10-1 on the season.

Iin a junior varsity match, Altamont was a 1-0 winner. Mitchell Stevenson scored the lone goal for the Indians who are 2-5.