ALTON – Public School Stadium hosted a soccer game with heavy playoff implications Monday night between the Alton Redbirds and Granite City Warriors.
Both teams are fighting for results to try and help boost their postseason seeding, and on Monday, the Warriors got the result, spoiling the fun on Alton’s Senior Night with a 4-0 win.
The Redbirds celebrated their eight seniors: Owen Sutton, Jack Lombardi, Dillan Cowan, Alex Tuetken, Gage Anderson, Braxton Campbell, Chad Fournie, and Michael Anderson all before the game, but once the whistle blew, it was all Warriors.
Granite City came out strong and scored three first-half goals, playing with more intensity than the Redbirds, something both coaches alluded to.
“That’s part of it right there,” Alton head coach Greg Nasello said. “We’ve got to come out and play from the start of the game, not wait until the game’s over to play. I thought that in the second half we did that, but by then the game was over. We’ve just got to find it in us to start with that same intensity that we played with in the second half.”
Alton, now on a seven-game winless streak, was still always expected to play Granite City close, and Warriors’ head coach Ryan Reeves knew that.
“They always play hard,” Reeves said of the Redbirds. “Obviously, their coach’s identity is to get them hearty. He gets pretty emotional over there which I can appreciate.”
“We talked before the game, and we knew it was going to be whoever brought it tonight and played with more intensity,” Reeves continued. “I feel like we had it better of it from the start.”
The Warriors broke the tie in the 17th minute when Seth Blaylock put home a low-driven pass that was cut back from the end line, catching the Redbirds’ defense ball-watching.
Alton could’ve tied it two minutes later when a header was flicked across the face of the goal from a corner kick, but it turned out not to be a threat.
Nash Young would score in the 35th minute from a through ball from Armando Hernandez. Alton keeper Patrick Henesey attempted to rush out and meet Young at the edge of the 18-yard box, but Young chipped it over Henesey, who barely got a fingertip to the shot.
The third goal came from the penalty spot. The Warriors were awarded the spot kick after an off-the-ball foul was called against Campbell. Patrick French stepped up and put it bottom right corner, out of Henesey’s reach to make it 3-0.
Granite’s fourth also came from Young in the 49th minute when his shot went off the right post and in from about 10 yards away. Young has three goals and an assist this season. Hernandez picked up his first helper of the year to go along with a team-leading 13 goals.
This was Alton’s seventh loss in the last eight games and have been struggling to score outside of a 2-2 tie against Parkway North back on Sept. 11th. Since their last 6-1 win over University City, the Redbirds have only scored four goals in those eight games.
It doesn’t go to help that Alton has primarily been without its leading scorer Dillan Cowan who’s been dealing with a foot injury off and on throughout the season. Other key players like Lombardi have been in and out of the lineup as well.
“That’s part of the game,” Nasello said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. Hopefully, knock on wood, we’ll get through it and find a way to get ready before the playoffs.”
Alton will play three of its last four games on the road at Belleville West, Collinsville, and O’Fallon before a final home game on Oct. 14th against Highland.
The Warriors kind of like where they’re at. 15 games into the season, and the team is above .500 at 8-7.
“We’re figuring it out,” Reeves said. “We pick and choose our battles it seems like. Right now, what we’re going through is that we’re playing well against good teams and playing down to some teams that I feel like we might be a little better than.”
He mentioned last week’s 3-2 loss at Gibault. The Hawks came into that contest with a 2-8 record as they’ve struggled to find an identity this season, but were still able to beat a Granite City team that just didn’t bring it that night.
“We’re mature some games and some games we’re just not, but tonight was a good night for us,” Reeves said. “We’re battling a little adversity. We lost our team captain to a torn ACL. We’re piecing it all together right now. I had two JV guys starting in the outside back positions tonight.”
The Warriors have five games remaining before the postseason, four of them at home against Mascoutah, Civic Memorial, Father McGivney, and Maryville Christian with an away contest at Belleville West on Oct. 14.
