THE CHAMPIONS: EHS field hockey girls capture Public School title 3-2 over Lafayette

Brent Feeney, Sports Writer

Oct 17, 2015 11:20 PM

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EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's field hockey team has had quite the week.

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The Tigers took part in the school's Homecoming festivities throughout the week, plus also played in the St. Louis Public School Tournament that got started Wednesday.

The Tigers eliminated Lockwood Summit Wednesday on an overtime goal from Natalie Neva, then took on Kirk wood in Friday's semifinals at Parkway South and advanced into the final on a goal from Annie Milford in the second overtime period, the goal coming from a Riley Miller assist.

Saturday morning, the two reversed their roles, but the result was the same as Miller scored from a Milford assist 2:47 into the second 10-minute overtime period to give the Tigers a 3-2 win over Lafayette and their first Public School Tournament championship at Tiger Stadium.

The week's results left Tiger coach Julia Tyler a very happy coach.

“It was a great finish,” Tyler said. “It was fun to see because yesterday Riley made the assist to Annie (on the game-winner) and today, it was reversed, so for both of those girls to finish strong, they did a great job of connecting passes and placing the ball.”

“I got the perfect ball from Annie,” Miller said on her winner, “and she just set me up and I slipped it into the corner. I knew I'd just better play it safe and just pushed into the corner.”

The Tigers had some good chances in the second half to tie the game when they trailed 2-1 – one apparent goal from Allie Host was called back - and to win the game in the first overtime, but a shot heading into the net was cleared away by the Lancer defense off the goal line before it went in. Still, the Tigers knew momentum was on their side and didn't let the near-misses bother them.

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“We did not give up the whole game,” Miller said, “and I could not be more proud of my team. We just played through everything, all the adversity, the goals called back, the fouls, everything. We kept playing strong.”

Lafayette actually took the lead just 7:10 into the match when Megan Convoy headed into the EHS goal area and found Mary Reynolds with a pass; Reynolds then beat Tiger goalkeeper Sarah Plume to put the Lancers up 1-0. Play settled down for a bit, but the Tigers got a break and moved up field to the Lancer goal, where Milford found the range past Lafayette net minder Brianna Cronin to tie the match 1-1, which is where it stood at the break.

Lafayette regained the lead Convoy beat Plume with 10:51 left in regulation, but with the Tigers seemingly on the ropes, Milford scored with 3:27 to go to send the game into overtime.

The overtime period was 10 minutes, with teams reduced to six-a-side plus the goalkeeper. The Tigers seemingly had the game won in the first half when Cronin came off her line and the ball eluded her, but a Lancer defender swept back to clear the ball away right before it could enter the net to keep things tied up.

That's when Milford and Miller went to work. The Tigers charged into the Lancer end and worked the ball into the shooting area. Milford gained possession and hit Miller with a crisp pass; Miller then settled and fired for the far post to her left, where the ball got in to give EHS the win.

“Regardless of what happens – we've talked about it through the season – regardless if goals get called back or whatever the call might be, the girls just have to play through adversity and keep playing strong,” Tyler said.

The win put EHS at 13-8 on the year; Lafayette dropped to 11-10-1.

Next up for the Tigers is a regular-season match against MICDS at 4 pm. Tuesday before the end-of-season Midwest Tournament, in which they are the seventh seed.