St. Anthony Claims Soccer Victory, Hearts Drop Match

Effingham St. Anthony picked up a 4-2 victory over Faith Bible Christian Academy in high school soccer competition Thursday.

Reilly Ashton scored the first two goals for the Bulldogs. The first one came from a penalty kick and the second one from a Wade Lowrence pass.

Faith Bible Christian Academy tallied a goal from a defensive mistake, but St. Anthony's Jack Elder scored in the closnig minutes of the first half on a pass from Luke Swingler.

FBCA opened the second half with a score but with less than a minute left, Elder took a counter-attack to the left of the field and crossed it in front of three defenders for Swingler's second goal of the contest.

"Will Fonner was a key player in the defense," said St. Anthony Coach Martin Reyes. "Stealing the ball and intercepting the ball. Grace Hakman had a great game and provided a lot of defensive support. Ivan Dong had six saves."

The Bulldogs improve to 6-10-2 on the season and will be back in action Saturday at Champaign Cenntenial with match time at 11 a.m.

At Effingham

Mount Zion captured a 4-2 victory over Effingham in soccer competition Thursday.

"We played really well in the first half," said EHS Coach Weston Peno. "We controlled the ball and had numerous opportunities. We managed to capitalize on one and the mometum was there. Defending was strong and we moved as a team, controlling the field for the most part.

"The second half was a bit disappointing. Our kids did not appreciate the second half with the same ferocity as Mount Zion and we ended up giving up two PK's and some key goals. Our control was no longer there either. As stated before, we still have a long way to go despite the talent on the team. I am proud of our boys and girls and their work ethic and look forward to seeing how it will translate into more wins in the future."

Goals for the Hearts came from Tucker Moeller and Osvaldo Angel. Brandon Duncan had 11 saves.

"Both boys had really nice goals," said Peno. "Tucker did so on a run, beating out two defenders with a nice one touch shot to place it in the top left corner. Osvaldo's goal came from his persistence in the box, crashing and the redirecting a missed opportunity.

"Brandon was making brave and important decisions this game. His ability to move away from the box and view the field in order to make plays happen was very apparent as a key skill this game."