MARYVILLE — Scoring two goals can’t hurt when pursuing wins in prep soccer.
And the Father McGivney Griffins proved that point in Wednesday afternoon’s non-conference contest against the East Alton-Wood River Oilers at St John Neumann School in Maryville. The Griffins netted a goal in the first half and another in the second half to win 2-0.
Father McGivney improved to 7-3-3 with the win, while EA-WR dropped to 9-4 with the loss.
“I think the boys are playing with some confidence,” Father McGivney coach Tim Vance said. “We had a couple of setbacks this week, but we responded well. We kept going.”
Each team had a shot-on-goal in the first 10-minutes of play, as the contest was played on both sides of the field in the early minutes. The Griffins’ D.J. Villhard scored the first goal 30-minutes into the game. Villhard fired off a shot approximately 18-yards from the goal, as Kellen Weir fed him the ball on the tally.
“I saw my open space so I took it,” Villhard said. “My outside wing (Weir) played me a fantastic ball, I’ll have to give him credit.”
Vance said the first goal “set the tone for the game.”
EA-WR coach Mike Lawson felt his team might have mounted a better offensive attack.
“Shots don’t win or lose a game, it’s the movement prior to the shot,” Lawson said. “We played all right, but when your first touch is sloppy, it’s not going to lead to good things. It’s about a lack of movement, that’s all there is. We played stupid in some cases. When you run up and down and there’s no diagonal movement, movement is the key to soccer. You can have great movement, get one shot, get one goal and win 1-0 or you can have zero movement, get one shot and lose 1-0. It starts defensively. We gave up two goals and didn’t score.”
Father McGivney’s Jonah Mitan added the team's second goal 18-minutes into the second half. He scored on a free kick.
For the next 13 minutes, the Griffins challenged the Oilers. However, EA-WR might have scored toward the end of the game. Fifteen minutes before the end of the game, Nick Ellis’ header flew a few feet to the east of the goal and five minutes before the end of the game an Ellis shot went over the top of the goal.
Father McGivney goalkeeper Logan Schumate earned his fourth shutout of the season against the Oilers.
“He didn’t have a lot of pressure, but he did have to make two or three big saves when he had to,” Vance said.
The Griffins now return to action on Saturday at 11 a.m. at home against Murphysboro. The Oilers next battle Jersey at 4 p.m. Friday on the road.