St. Clair opened its girls soccer season with a 0-2-1 record last Friday and Saturday at the Warrenton Round Robin Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs kicked off their season Friday with a 2-0 loss to Sullivan.
On Saturday, St. Clair played to a 1-1 tie against Kirksville and dropped a 3-1 decision to Warrenton.
Sullivan won the tournament title with a 3-0 record.
“It was the first tournament of the season, and we used it to learn where we are as a team,” said St. Clair Head Coach Ted Koenigsfeld. “We took some positives away from it. Sam Deason was very good in goal. Defensively, we were fairly strong. The entire team, front to back, was very competitive throughout the tournament. We were short a few players in the third game, but the girls kept battling. As a coach, you like to see that competitive edge and drive. That was a positive for us.”
Deason, a junior, played in goal for all three of the Lady Bulldogs’ games.
St. Clair fell behind 2-0 to Sullivan by halftime in the season opener.
“We definitely came out with first-game jitters and allowed two goals in the first half, one on a penalty kick,” Koenigsfeld said. “We settled down and played better in the second half. We gave Sullivan their biggest challenge of the tournament.”
In Saturday’s first game, the contest was scoreless until Kirksville took the lead on a goal with four minutes remaining in the second half.
But the Lady Bulldogs responded on a goal by freshman midfielder Mary York with two minutes remaining in the game.
Nicole Nardi, a senior midfielder, was credited with the assist.
“We scored the goal from a corner kick. The ball bounced around in the middle and Mary was there to knock it in,” Koenigsfeld said. “The girls showed a lot of heart coming back after Kirksville took the lead with under five minutes left to play.”
No overtime was played in the tournament.
St. Clair ended the tournament with a 3-1 loss Saturday to Warrenton.
The Lady Bulldogs took an early 1-0 lead when Nardi scored on a penalty kick.
Warrenton answered with three goals in the first half to take a 3-1 halftime advantage, which turned out to be the final score.
“When they scored to tie the game 1-1, we kind of hung our heads and they came right back and scored again to take the lead,” Koenigsfeld said. “Their third goal came on a communication error we made. We made some halftime adjustments and had some scoring opportunities in the second half. We were a little worn out. It was our third game in two days and we were down on substitutes in that third game.”
Heather Pendegraft, a junior midfielder/defender, Nardi and Deason represented St. Clair on the all-tournament team.
“Nicole, Heather and Sam all had outstanding tournaments,” Koenigsfeld said.
Sullivan Lady Eagles
Sullivan, coached by Bill Kackley, won the tournament championship with wins over St. Clair 2-0, Warrenton 3-0 and Kirksville, 6-1.
Scoring goals against Warrenton were Aley Lucas, Taylor Lucas and Skylar Evans.
Lexi Johnston, Aley Lucas and Evans each scored two goals for the Lady Eagles in the win over Kirksville.
