EDWARDSVILLE – Parker McMillian had a brace (two goals), while Jack Marty and Madj Hamad also scored as Edwardsville took a 4-0 win over Belleville East in a Southwestern Conference boys soccer match played Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium
The Tigers were coming off a decent showing at the Morton tournament last weekend, despite losing two of three of the matches, losing to the host Potters 2-1 in a penalty kick shootout after drawing the match 1-1, falling to Chatham Glenwood 4-0, before rebounding nicely in a 2-1 win over Champaign Centennial.
Against the Lancers, the Tigers played well, and moved the ball consistently well, creating good opportunities throughout the match.
“It was good,” said Edwardsville coach Mark Heiderscheid. “We were moving the ball very effectively, and that’s what made me most happy. We got the clean sheet, which was nice. We’re always looking to record the clean sheet. I thought our possession was outstanding, we kept the ball very well, and we got some good shots off, We hit the post several times,” he said with a laugh, “and overall, that was a good performance.”
McMillian got the first goal in the opening half, heading in a brilliantly taken free kick from distance to put Edwardsville ahead 1-0, then Marty scored a few minutes later off of a break to make it 2-0 at the interval. McMillian got his second goal early in the second half off a scramble in front to put Edwardsville 3-0, and Hamad completed the scoring on a long through ball that he broke in along on and beat the goalkeeper to the near post right before the full-time siren to give the Tigers the 4-0 win.
East is now 1-4-0, and hosts Columbia on Thursday night, and hosts the first leg of the Belleville Derby against West next Tuesday night, with both games starting at 6:45 p.m. The Tigers go to 6-4-0, and hosts Normal Community Saturday at 12:30 p.m., then plays at O’Fallon next Tuesday in a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
