St. Anthony, EHS Nab Soccer Victories

St. Anthony High School opened the soccer season on the road, playing the Champaign Centennial Chargers for the first time Tuesday.

"It was a great kickoff to an exciting soccer season," said St. Anthony Coach Eric Morales. "Beautiful weather and the perfect temperature for a soccer game."

The junior varsity squad fell to the Chargers 1-0 on a penalty kick for a foul given in the box with 10 minutes remaining.

"They played a great game," said Morales.

The varsity played under the lights. The Bulldogs played even with the Chargers for the first few minutes when the Chargers squeaked in a goal. The Bulldogs came roaring back with many close attempts from Deters, Lemus and Kruger but the Chargers finished the half leading 2-0.

In the second half, the Bulldogs played better, with many close calls from Deters and Kruger. The Chargers played aggressive and well, finishing the game, 4-0.

"We played very well and I was very happy with their performance," said Morales. "This was just a warmup game before our tournament. We normally don't play schools that are this big, but we wanted a good team to play so that we knew what to adjust to coming into the tournament. The refs mentioned to our team at the end of game that we were a very solid team for a small school and we played very, very exceptional.

"Special thanks to Nick Grunloh, our goalie, for a job well done and the defense for also playing well. We play again Friday at 4 p.m. in the first game of our own tournament."

At Effingham

Effingham opened its season with a 3-1 victory over Altamont/Beecher City. The Hearts struck first when Noah Mulheron, assisted by Sean Zerrusen, scored with 26:18 left in the first half.

(SEAN ZERRUSEN PICKED UP AN ASSIST ON THE FIRST GOAL OF THE CONTEST)

The Hearts came back with a second goal at the 3:19 mark. Christopher Berglund-Gustafsson hit net with an unassisted goal.

In the second half, the Hearts started off with a goal by Brady Jackson, assisted by Andrew Bingham, with 36:37 remaining.

(ANDREW BINGHAM PICKED UP AN ASSIST IN THE CONTEST)

Altamont scored at the 21:54 mark as Christian Freezeland connected.

Jared Minor had two saves for the Hearts while Sam Childerson had 13 saves for the Indians.

In junior varsity action, Altamont claimed a 2-0 win over the Hearts. Jason Burns scored with an assist by Nick Sharp. Greg Stewart then scored with an assist by August Laatsch. Altamont had 14 shots on goal and three saves.