Waterloo tops Mascoutah
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| Waterloo junior Jordan Bartlebaugh, right, pushes the ball past Triad senior Allison Throm in a game this season. The Bulldogs edged Mascoutah 1-0 on Friday to claim the title in the IHSA Class AA Mascoutah Regional. Brent Holzapfel photo |
"Defensively I thought we did great," Waterloo coach Chad Holden said. "We have given up one goal in our last 11 games. It seemed like we were out of synch a little offensively, but I think that's just because we haven't been able to get many practices in with the weather. We kind of got out of rhythm because we hadn't had a lot of games for a week or two, but defensively we were solid."
Senior star Scotti Culton got a late second-half goal off a feed from sophomore Erica Kaiping for the winner."Erica got the ball right around midfield," Holden said. "She was able to make a pass behind Mascoutah's sweeper. Scotti and their sweeper had a foot race to the ball and Scotti got to the ball first. There were two Mascoutah girls in the box when she went to shoot, so she dribbled around them and put it in with about a minute to go."
The Bulldogs were coming off a 7-0 shellacking of Centralia three days before in the semifinal. Culton nabbed a hat trick and fellow senior Coley Morris scored twice. Junior Rachel Schuchman and sophomore Kayla Kelley had the other Waterloo goals, while Kaiping and freshman Carly Gassner recorded a pair of assists apiece.
"We were up 5-0 at half and we rested some people in there," Holden said. "It was kind of one of those predicaments where you want to get the rhythm going and keep everybody in, but at the same time you don't want to run up the score on somebody. It was a good way to start the tournament, and then beating Mascoutah is a great feeling to have for the girls."
Waterloo received more good news when Culton was named to the All-State Team. Morris and fellow senior Jess Augustine made the Honorable Mention roster of the All-Sectional squad.
"Scotti was our first female to make All-State in the history of our program," Holden said. "She was really excited about it, too. It's a big accomplishment and she deserves every bit of it.
"Coley and Jess have both been very unselfish players. Coley is a big reason we don't give up many goals and we always say if you don't give up a goal you aren't going to lose the game. It kind of worked that way all year and we only gave up nine goals all season. A lot of that is due to Coley.
"Jess has the responsibility of covering a lot of distance in the midfield. She has been kind of banged up here lately, but being a senior and a leader she has been fighting through it. It was a well-deserved honor for both of them."
The Bulldogs (15-3) were set for a real test Tuesday, when they were slated to take on mighty Belleville West on the relative home turf of Belleville Sportsplex. West (13-8) knocked off perennial state qualifier Granite City 1-0 in overtime Saturday to advance.
"(West) just beat one of the best teams in the area," Holden said. "Granite was ranked among the best in the Midwest. There aren't going to be any easy ones no matter who you see. We didn't play Belleville West in the regular season, but we know whoever we see it is going to be a battle from here on out.
"It's a big school, so I'm sure they go pretty deep, but we do also. They are a very strong defensive unit and don't give up a lot of goals, kind of like us.
"We'll see what happens. The girls are excited to get that first step with the regional and are getting ready for this next round."
