St. Anthony Beats Altamont, EHS Falls To T'ville In Soccer

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Published on September 23 2015 9:13 am
Last Updated on September 23 2015 9:13 am
Written by Millie Lange

ALTAMONT -- "Altamont is always a great place to play and visit, my hometown and very friendly," said St. Anthony Coach Eric Morales. "The evening couldn't have been any better, it was gorgeous out."

The Bulldogs traveled to Altamont and handed the Indians a 3-0 loss Tuesday evening.

"Altamont has been playing very well the last few weeks," said Morales. "They have stepped up their game and I knew coming in, that this could end either way. The first 15 minutes of the game, Altamont came out ready and guns blazing. Led by Jesus Flores and Christian Freezeland, Altamont stepped forward on us pressuring us early. Having two good shots on goal, it was clear Altamont was ready to play.

"Quickly, after 20 minutes had gone by, we finally found our rhythm and adjusted properly, making our way to the goal. With 17:12 left in the half, Ryan Kruger poked the ball over to Alex Deters to find the back of the net to put us up 1-0. Just six minutes later, Ryan tracked down a loose ball taking it in on his own to find the back of the net, netting his 20th goal on the season, breaking the school record of 19 set by Benton Hakman just two years ago. That goal put us up 2-0 for the half.

"In the seconnd half, the kids pressured Altamont much of the half, putting 13 shots on goal. Halfway through the second half, Ryan took a beautiful shot from way out, only to hit the goal post. Then Alex Deters found the rebound and slammed it back in, but the Altamont goalie was there to knock it out of the way. Then Lexi Mendella happened to be there as she knocked it to the side and she was able to connect on netting her third goal of the season, putting the score at 3-0 . Hats off to Altamont, they played with a lot of heart, and never gave up."

St. Anthony moves forward with a 12-1 record on the season and sees action again Thursday night against Newton. 

Altamont's varsity dropped to 5-7-1 on the season. Sam Childerson had nine saves.

"It was a hard-fought match by both teams," said Altamont Coach Jeff Walton. "However, I see St. Anthony winning and playing better for about 25 minutes of each half. We only put together 15 minutes of well passing and distribution of the ball for each half.

"We have been working and working on spreading the field and keeping possession. One good thing is we are showing improvement. However, it needs to be advancing at a quicker pace. Another team goal is putting wins back-to-back. We have done this once so far in the season but needed it tonight."

St.Anthony's junior varsity also brought home a 4-0 win.

 

At Taylorville

Effingham High School dropped a soccer match to host Taylorville Tuesday evening, 3-1.

Taylorville's Lane Ruppert scored with 24:40 left in the first half. Effingham came back to tie the score when Andrew Bingham tallied with an assist from Brady Jackson at 3:09.

But the Tornadoes went ahead 2-1 when Zebert Dunaway scored on a rebound off his own PK after Jared Minor made a save with 30 seconds left in the half.

Angelo Colaldo scored with 27:49 left in the second half on a 20 yard strike into the upper 90.

Minor had nine saves while Taylorville's Dalee Young had eight.

"We had 19 quality shots, nine on goal and dominated possession in the game," said EHS Coach Aaron Witges. "But Taylorville took advantage of the few opporutnities they had and capitalized on all three."

The Hearts dropped to 1-2-1 in the Apollo Conference, 4-6-2 overall. EHS is back in action Thursday hosting Mount Zion with a 4 p.m. varsity start.

Effingham and Taylorville's junior varsity played to a 2-2 tie. Effingham goals were by Cooper Jackson adn Padro Carillo.