Knights, Tigers Open Season With 0-0 Draw

TROY – The Triad High School girls soccer team made it four years in a row of opening the season against the Southwestern Conference’s best, this time kicking open the season against the Edwardsville Tigers.

For the last three years, head coach Matt Bettlach and his teams have opened the season against O’Fallon, losing all three of those games via shutout.

The last two seasons, Triad vs. Edwardsville was always game number two on the schedule, but this year it was the premier.

A not so flattering streak continued for the Knights as they were shutout in their season-opener for the fourth straight year, but this time after 80 minutes, it was a 0-0 tie with the Tigers, ending a three-year losing streak to them as well.

“That’s a heck of a team there, loaded from the back to the front, and they showed it, especially in the second half,” Bettlach said of Edwardsville. “I liked the way we started the second half, but they kind of took over. We gave them too many corner kicks, too many free kicks.”

“We handled them well, defended them well, but you’re flirting with disaster giving a team like Edwardsville that many chances,” Bettlach continued. “Overall, I am very pleased with this effort. Even if we were on the losing end of it, I still would’ve been happy. I liked the way we competed, because that’s a team that’s fast, physical, technical, and we handled them.”

Triad hasn’t won its season-opener since 2022, a 2-0 win over Rochester, when the team rattled off 15 wins in a row, including the last time it beat Edwardsville, en route to a 25-1, state championship winning campaign.

Pre-pandemic, the Knights opened the season in the Metro Cup, which still exists today, just without Triad.

And the reason for leaving the Metro Cup doesn’t even have anything to do with the varsity program.

“It’s funny, everybody always asks me, ‘Why, why do it?’ Why not? Usually, we’re in the Metro Cup this week. And usually no one wants to play us, so it’s always O’Fallon, Edwardsville, the good teams that we play in the first week, so it’s no different,” Bettlach said.

“The reason we got out of the Metro Cup is to give our JV team a chance to play. It’s a good way for them to get started when we get started instead of giving them a week off. It just works out that way.”

Bettlach has always lived by the “iron sharpens iron” saying any how and never minds opening up against teams that he refers to as ‘the big dogs.’

New $1 Bin- Everything Inside Only $1

Shop Local

2nd Generation Distribution

Get This Deal →

And Edwardsville first-year head coach Justin Bernaix is up for the challenge too, taking on the perennial powerhouse that is Triad.

“Obviously, I’m new to it, but I remember always watching this week where Triad would open up with O’Fallon and Edwardsville, so, it’s good matches for them, it’s good matches for us,” Bernaix said. “That’s a good team to open up against and learn from.”

And next year, the game won’t be able to end in a tie.

They’ll be Southwestern Conference rivals by that point as some of the old Mississippi Valley Conference teams merge into the SWC.

“I think that will make the conference fun,” Bernaix said. “I still don’t know how many times we’ll play one another. Even though we’ll be in different classes, to be in the conference with teams like them, Waterloo, even Civic Memorial, I think that’s good for the game instead of getting into that run where you play a few teams a bunch of times. I think spreading that out will be cool.”

In the current Southwestern Conference system, everyone plays everyone twice. It’s unclear how the schedule will shape out when teams like Triad and Mascoutah are added into the fold. Granite City also rejoins the SWC in the 2026-27 school year.

Thursday’s game didn’t have many chances to write about. Edwardsville looked most dangerous from set pieces, especially corner kicks. Neither team was particularly potent on the counterattack.

Most of the play was in the center of the field in between the two 30-yard lines as the teams battled for possession.

But as Bettlach alluded to, Edwardsville was the better team in the second half. The Tigers controlled more of the ball, had more opportunities, but neither side found the back of the net.

“Even though it was 0-0, I felt like we controlled the play at times,” Bernaix said. “We were our own worst enemy on a couple moments where we probably overplayed and put ourselves in some difficult situations, but overall, we didn’t give up too many chances, we felt comfortable most of the time, we just couldn’t really generate that clear, clear chance.”

“Overall, for the first game, and only being with the group for a couple of weeks, pretty happy with that,” Bernaix said.

The Tigers take a whole week off before opening up SWC play on the road at Belleville West.

The Knights play again on Saturday, hosting Peoria Notre Dame at 10 a.m.

The Irish have been to back-to-back IHSA Class 2A state tournaments finishing second last season with a 26-2-1 record.

❮ ❯

More like this:

Dimitroff Has Goal, Assist, Maxim, Jumper Also Score As Edwardsville Wins At Granite City 3-1, Schwaller Scores For Warriors

5 days ago

Alton Baseball Looks to Bounce Back Against Edwardsville

Apr 8, 2026

Strikes Out 10 Batters: Pitcher Marley Fox Leads Edwardsville Softball To Unbeaten Streak in Conference

Apr 17, 2026

Belleville West Dominates Edwardsville in Conference Clash

Apr 22, 2026

Bilzing Has Three Hits, Delivers Key Blow With Third Inning Bases Clearing Double In 12-2 Belleville West Win

Apr 22, 2026