EHS Wins Big, St. A Blanks Olney, Altamont, Newton Play to Tie

Effingham High School wasn't a very nice host to Vandalia Thursday evening in soccer competition as the Hearts blasted the visiting Vandals, 10-0.

The Hearts scored seven goals in the opening half. Andrew Bingham started the Hearts off with an unassisted goal with 38:54 on the clock. Brady Jackson scored back-to-back goals, first with an assist from Noah Mulheron at the 33:07 mark, and then with an assist from Andrew Bingham with 12:38 left in the first half.

Mulheron then tallied a goal of his own at the 10:50 mark. Jackson came back with a third goal at 7:17 on an assist from Ashton Haythorne. Drake Hill scored with 5:23 left and was assisted by Bingham. The final goal was from Sean Zerrusen at the 3:50 mark.

In the 20 minute second half, Christopher Berglun Gustafsson scored at 16:08. Gabriel Rivera hit net with an assist from Jared Minor at 15:22. Haythorne then pushed the ball across for the final goal of the game at 9:00 with an assist from Minor.

Minor was goalee in the first half before Jackson came on in the second half with three saves. Vandalia's Joe Yexley had eight saves.

"All 19 players on our roster played in the game," said EHS Coach Ryan Witges. "Jazmin Lopez had an opportunity to score on a PK she earned in the second half but hit a hard shot right at the keeper."

Effingham is now 2-3-1 and travels to Mount Vernon Tuesday.

At St. Anthony

It was a scorching hot evening, as Effingham St. Anthony High School hosted Olney.

"We are 1-4 against Olney, so we were fired up and ready for the game," said St. Anthony Coach Eric Morales. "The first half, Olney came out aggressive and fierce. We quickly maintained the ball and directed the pace of the game, controlling 80 percent of possession.

"We peppered the Tigers goalkeeper the whole first half taking 21 shots on goal, just unable to find the back of the net. During the second half of the game, it was much of the same. The Tigers had a few close calls, but our keeper Nick Grunloh was there to track everything down.

"At roughly 22:16, freshman Moises Lemus tracked down a loose ball deep in the Tigers defensive area, saving the ball from going out of bounds and turning it into a cross, finding Ryan Kruger for our goal of the night. Seven minutes later Chandler Martelli was on a breakaway and was fouled as he was trying to shoot and was given a penalty kick opportunity. Chandler stepped up to take the shot and connected on our second goal.

"We continued to move the ball up and down the field, pressuring Olney. Late in the half with about five minutes left, Ian Harris and Jack Nuxoll tried to stop an Olney breakaway and fouled them in the box giving the Tigers a penalty kick. Treston Stanley stepped up for Olney to take the shot, but Bulldog keeper Nick Grunloh blocked his shot and carried St. Anthony to another clean sweep, 2-0."

Grunloh finished the game with seven saves. St. Anthony tallied over 30 shots on goal.

"Special Mention to Nick for playing another excellent game and Alex Deters and Jack for stepping up and playing some key roles tonight," said Morales.

St.Anthony is 5-1 and will host Carlyle Tuesday night.

St. Anthony's junior varsity also went on to win, 2-1 over the Tigers. St. Anthony is coming off of a win from Effingham, 6-0. The Bulldogs are now 2-1.

At Newton

From the start of the whistle,  Altamont came out in possession and with a passion to attack Newton. It showed in the early going by winning the kickoff and causing the Eagles to give up a corner early. With only 49 seconds off the clock, Altamont had a corner served into Hunter Barns that flicked in to Jacob Crow for the quick strike and a goal.

"After that we let down our momentum and drive to attack and win balls," said Altamont Coach Jeff Walton. "We settled on sitting back on our heels. Newton took over with long ball after long ball trying to find a hole in our defense and they did twice. One at 27:38 and then again with seven minutes left in the half."

Going into the second half down 2-1, Altamont needed to regroup. Taking the edge of being physical and winning 50/50 balls, Altamont changed the temp in their favor.

"After pressing Newton's back line with crosses and corners, Newton made the one mistake," said Walton. "An own goal was scored off Jesus Flores header that challenged Newton with Jacob Crow closing in for the shot attempt. We continued to press to unavailing results to end in a2-2  tie. Good for us to come out with a tie after a few losses but the win would have been better. We fought hard but need to understand how important missed opportunities are."

Altamont had 17 shots, six on goal. Childerson had five saves. Newton had 22 shots, eight on goal and four saves.

Altamont claimed the junior varsity contest 2-1 to improve to 2-1. Wyatt Stone and Jason Burns scored goals. Altamont had nine shots, five on goal. Jacob Lucy had three saves.