GIRLS SOCCER: Triad washes away Eagles

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COLLINSVILLE – The Civic Memorial Eagles had a chance to climb over the .500 mark on Thursday, when they took on the Triad Knights in a Mississippi Valley Conference match at Collinsville High School.

All the Eagles needed was a win over the defending Class 2A state champions.

But the Knights were too much to handle for the Bethalto school as they won 8-0. Triad shut out CM for the fourth straight meeting.

CM dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The Eagles return to action at 4:15 p.m. Monday, when they play the Mater Dei Knights at home.

Triad and CM will square off again at 5:30 p.m. on April 5 in Bethalto.

The Eagles returned to the pitch on Thursday for the first time in a week. They were scheduled to play two matches at the Carlinville Spring Cup on March 24 and a conference match at Highland on Tuesday, but all of those contests were called off due to rain.

CM and Triad played under rainy conditions at Kahok Stadium. The match was moved to Collinsville due to wet field conditions at Triad High School.

The Eagles were scheduled to play a home match against Carlinville on Friday, but that match has been called off due to impending weather.

Triad, which won its second state title last year, improved to 4-1-2. The Knights were coming off a scoreless tie against Granite City on Wednesday at GCS Ballpark.

Triad got two-goal performances from Jody Ellis and Jordan Barberis and one goal each from Jordyn Besserman, Lydia Smith, Taylor Hawkes and Sam Simpson. The Troy school scored a goal in the first half and seven in the second.

The Eagles got a solid performance at goal from freshman Azia Ray in the losing cause. Ray, who played midfield for most of the season, stopped seven shots before giving up a penalty-kick goal from Ellis with 1:37 left in the first half that gave Triad a 1-0 halftime lead.

CM was shut out for the second time this season. The Eagles lost to Waterloo 7-0 in their conference opener on March 20.

CM is looking to finish with its first winning season in three years. A year ago, the Eagles came up short of a winning season, finishing 9-10.

This spring, CM returned most of its players from the '17 squad, including all-conference performers Cassie Hall and Morgan Wilson.

The Eagles started their season with a 2-2 record in the Puma Division of the Metro Cup Tournament. They beat Father McGivney 8-0 in their season opener on March 14 at Belleville West.

CM also had wins over Mount Vernon and Staunton.

The eight goals marked a season high for Triad, which has outscored its opponents 20-4 and has five shutouts.