Granite City Girls Soccer Goalie Katie Gartner Is Key Part Of Warriors, Makes Tremendous Saves To Preserve Draw Against Edwardsville
Bu COLIN FEENEY
EDWARDSVILLE – Katie Gartner is a sophomore goalkeeper for the girls soccer team at Granite City High School, and her solid work in the net for the Warriors has helped the team achieve a good season thus far – with the potential for more good things ahead.
She is a Stillwater Senior Living Female Athlete of the Month for the Warriors.
Gartner made some astonishing saves for Granite during a 1-1 draw against Edwardsville at Tiger Stadium on Apr. 24, including a pair of big saves against Gabby Thompson, one of the area’s most exciting and dangerous players. Her saves in goal helped the Warriors gain a vital point on the road.
For the season, she’s played 1,000 minutes in goal, conceding 15 goals for a 1.20 goals-against-average and an .870 save percentage in helping Granite go to a 4-4-5 record so far this season. With the crucial month of May coming up around the corner, Gartner will be relied upon heavily as the team approaches the postseason.
In a post-match interview, Gartner felt good about how things went against the Tigers, especially making big saves near the end to preserve the draw.
“I’m feeling really good,” Gartner said. “I think our effort was definitely there, considering our last few games, we would get tired from a lack of subs. But, I think we held up in this Edwardsville game. I think everybody wanted it, and we didn’t want them to beat us, like last year.”
Making the big saves when it counts is something that makes Gartner feel good each match.
“Those were – I felt like on top of the world when I made that last save,” Gartner said, referring to a big save she made to stop Gabby Thompson and the Tigers. “That was definitely making me charged, but I knew we had to stay calm, considering we still had still had 10 minutes left in the game, and we couldn’t let anything go. So, it felt great.”
Gartner gave Thompson very high praise for her efforts and a goal she did score about halfway through the second half that had put Edwardsville into the lead at 1-0.
“Oh, yeah,” Gartner said. “She’s a tremendous player, her shot’s really good. Her goal that she scored off on me was hard and amazing. I give her credit for being such a good striker.”
Gartner also felt that the Warriors season has gone well, citing a closeness between the players on the team.
“I think they’ve been going pretty good,” Gartner said. “We, as a team, are definitely low on subs, but we stay together, and I think our connections with each other are great. We are all good friends on the team.”
As far as goals and aspirations for the remainder of the season, Gartner is determined to make sure the next meeting has a different ending.
“I’m hoping for us to play Edwardsville again,” Gartner said, “and hopefully beat them the next time we see them. And I hope we can make it to sectionals, and state. That would be the dream. But we’ll see.”
