Edwardsville Soccer Girls Open With 3-0 Win, Will Showcase Strength Down the Middle in 2019

Colin Feeney, Contributing Sports Writer

Mar 12, 2019 6:11 AM Mar 12, 2019 7:20 AM

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EDWARDSVILLE – The girls soccer team at Edwardsville High will have a good mix of all classes, along with a strong middle of the pitch from top to bottom, as the Tigers began the 2019 season on Monday with a 3-0 win over Springfield in their opener in the St. Louis Metro Cup tournament at Tiger Stadium.

Peyton Federmann, the daughter of Tigers’ head coach Abby Federmann, Macy Hockett and Rileigh Kuhns scored the Edwardsville in the season opener.

The Tigers will have a strong and young team, and return key players such as Sarah Krause, Rachel Hensley, Emma Sitton, Emma Hensley, and Hannah Billecke. Edwardsville also welcomes back a trio of strikers in Sitton, Kunis, and Libby Doak, all of whom can put the ball in the back of the net.

The backfield corps are, in Federmann’s words, “super strong and really experienced." The entire center of the field, from top to bottom, is very strong.” Zoe Ahlers and Casey Hansen are key returnees, but the Tigers have lost Pattyn Schneider for the season after she suffered a torn ACL in her knee.

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“It’s something we’ll have to look at, and we have several girls who can step up,” Federmann said.

The season is now underway with the Metro Cup tournament, where Edwardsville will be hosting several games in the group stage. The tournament will give Federmann a chance to see her players in game conditions and how they react.

“It’s an opportunity for me to have one final evaluation, and to see what we’ll be working with this season,” Federmann said. “It also gives me an opportunity to see some freshmen get playing time, and see how they compete against the older girls.”

There’s been a slight change in the schedule, where now the Tigers will be playing against the Southwestern Conference teams twice, home-and-home, instead of once. The change left less spots to schedule good non-conference opposition, especially the St. Louis area schools. It’s still a very good slate, with games against powers such as Incarnate Word, St. Joseph’s, and Cor Jesu, along with Metro-East powers such as Triad and Granite City.

“There isn’t a game on the schedule that I or the team can overlook,” Federmann said.

Overall, you can expect the Tigers to be one of the best teams in the area, and Federmann is looking ahead to the challenges.

“It’s going to be different from years past, in that we have a good combination of all classes, from freshmen to seniors that can play at the varsity level,” Federmann said. “It’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the younger girls step up.”