TROY, Ill. – Triad girls soccer head coach Matt Betlach had a tough decision to make with 2:58 left in a scoreless tie against Althoff Catholic Monday evening.
After a quick passing sequence inside Althoff’s 18-yard box, Alina Ayran was brought down by Izzy Border, and the center referee immediately blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot.
Ayran, Triad’s second leading scorer, wanted to take the kick. During this time, Triad’s Sophia Bohnak was being attended to for an injury. It took a few minutes to deal with that, and after some deliberation, Ayran did take the kick.
She sent it past Althoff keeper Zoey Masengale to make it 1-0 Triad as the Knights went on to win by that margin to improve to 8-3 on the season.
“Well, I actually called for somebody else,” Betlach said regarding the PK. “And Alina [Ayran] kind of looked at me and I said, ‘Do you want it?’ and she said, ‘Yeah.’ Obviously, when Sophia Bohnak goes down, it gave everybody some time to think about it. And Alina just got fouled; the general rule of thumb is that if you just got fouled, don’t take a PK, but I think she had enough time,” Betlach joked.
“She looked at me and she wanted it. Alina’s one of the best PK shooters in practice, and so is Kamryn Bohnenstiehl, who I was going to have come up from the back to take it. But, Alina, as senior captain, has all confidence. There was never a doubt,” Betlach said.
Up until that point, Althoff was the team with more chances to score, but keeping the Knights in the game was their keeper, Payton Hartmann. She was called upon twice in the first half and again in the second to keep it 0-0.
The Crusaders had the game’s first real chance in the 20th minute, but Hartmann got down to make the grab, initially giving up a big rebound, but securing the ball. She made another strong save with her right hand to push the ball over the crossbar right at the half-hour mark.
“She made a couple of nice saves,” Betlach said of his keeper. “She was on her game today. But that’s good for us to know that if we have breakdowns, that Payton’s there to save us. If we want to be successful, we need that.”
Masengale was called upon in the 33rd minute after Ayran whipped in a corner kick, and a Triad player headed it toward net. It was really Triad’s only threat on goal in the first 40 minutes.
Hartmann made her best save of the game in the 53rd minute when Althoff’s Gabi Turkington’s shot was deflected, forcing a diving save to her right from Hartmann, putting the ball out for a corner. That was Althoff’s best chance of the game, and it’s last.
It was back and forth for the final 30 minutes with teams swapping possession in the midfield and playing strong defense, up until the game-deciding penalty kick.
For Triad, it was all about finding a way to win.
“We got the one penalty kick, on a good little combination play in the box. So, yeah, that was the message at the end. It wasn’t our finest hour, but we found a way against a good Althoff team,” Betlach said.
It was a game between IHSA Class 1A’s reigning state champions and the Class 2A runners-up, surely a game circled on the calendar for both teams.
The two teams have this non-conference game annually, and Triad hasn’t lost since 2014, a 2-1 defeat at Edwardsville High School. Since then, the Knights have won seven and tied four times.
The Crusaders fall to 9-5-1 on the season. They’re led by one of the area’s best all-around forwards, Izzy Dalke. She has 11 goals and three assists to her name this season, but was kept off the score sheet on Monday, thanks in part to Triad’s Reece Windsor.
Windsor was tasked with marking Dalke all game, and did well, not allowing Dalke much of anything.
“We knew tonight, depending on where their best player was going to be, that’s where we had to put Reece,” Betlach said. “So, I think Reece did a great job in the middle. [Dalke’s] fast, and [Windsor] did a great job of picking up anything she was trying to do, so yeah, Reece did a great job defensively.”
“Reece is one heck of a player,” Betlach continued. “People don’t know about her, but she’s probably one of the best players in the Metro East. I don’t think Reece gets enough credit and recognition for what she’s done in this program since her freshman year. She’s always marked the other team’s best player. Reece can play forward, midfield, and in the back. She’s a natural defender, but she can play anywhere.”
On Monday, Windsor played more of a defending midfielder role to keep track of Dalke, who was playing as an attacking mid/holding forward role much of the game.
The two teams will now go their separate ways, and both jump right back into conference action.
Althoff is set to take on Metro-East Lutheran on Tuesday, April 22 in the Gateway Metro Conference. The Crusaders currently sit second in the GMC at 2-1, behind undefeated Father McGivney at 6-0.
The Knights host Jerseyville in Mississippi Valley Conference action on Tuesday as well. Triad is first in the MVC at 4-0, while the Panthers are 0-4. The Knights then host Highland (9-3-1, 2-2) on Thursday.
