St. Anthony, Altamont Nabs Soccer Wins, EHS Loses

NEWTON -- Effingham St. Anthony traveled to Newton for a soccer match Thursdsay and came away with a 3-1 victory.

"With the season deep into the bottom of the schedule and the post season creeping up around the corner, many things begin to take affect. Teams begin to mesh better and games become a lot more competitive," said St. Anthony Coach Eric Morales. "We played what turned into a great game tonight. It was a hot, hot start until the clouds came rolling in causing the rest of the day to be a lot cooler.

"We came out on the first whistle with guns blazing. We pressured the Eagles immediately, giving no breaks. Newton had an opportunity where Ben Carr was able to crack one off but Alex Beesley was there to track it down. Ten minutes into the game, corner kick specialist Donovan Hammer had his first opportunity at a kick. He set it up and blasted it home. The keeper tried to handle the ball as did the center defender allowing the ball rolling, bounced off of the defender's leg and went in and we were up 1-0.

"We took possession of the ball and the game the rest of the half with continuous pressure on the goal. With only nine minutes left in the game, Ryan Kruger picked up a loose ball, dribbled in and put in a second goal for us.

"The second half, the Eagles came out with a diffrent formation and put pressure on our defense for the first time. We allowed only a few shots and were able to put a third goal in on a throw in from Alex Deters only to find Kruger for the finish. Ben Carr was able to find the back on a nice outside kick for Newton."

St. Anthony improved to 11-0-3 on the season.

At Mount Zion

Mount Zion blanked Effingham to the tune of 9-0 in action Thursday.

The Braves took a 6-0 first half lead and came back with three more goals in the second half.

At Vandalia

Altamont improved to 7-6-1 on the season with a 10-1 victory over Vandalia.

In the first half, Fernando Romo scored a goal at the 20:43 mark while Joe Stone tallied a goal at 19:01. Romo then came back for a second goal at 18:11. Jacob Crow found the net at the 16:17 mark. Dylan Marble scored on an assist by Stone at 7:42. Crow then tallied again with an assist from Marble at 4:19. Jason Burns tallied at 1:52 and the eighth goal game at the :42 mark on a goal by Marble with an assist by Carly McHugh.

In the second half, Brooke Burns scored on a PK at 17:55. Donovan Delaney tallied the final goal at 3:30.

Altamont had a whopping 75 shots, 40 on goal. Vandalia had three shots, one on goal with 30 saves. Altamont's Jacob Lucy had one save.