Redbirds trail 2-0 at half, rally to beat Granite City 3-2

Pete Hayes, phayes@thetelegraph.com

 Updated 1:47 am CDT, Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Photo:

Pete Hayes | The Telegraph

Alton’s Jake Lombardi (10) and Granite City’s Hunter Harnetieux race for the ball during prep soccer action Tuesday at Alton High School. Alton rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to win 3-2.

GODFREY — Riley Schmidt’s eyes got as big as saucers when he saw the ball coming his way.

“I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess it up,’” Schmidt said. “It was a perfect cross.”

Schmidt did not mess it up. Far from it, in fact. He redirected that perfect far-post cross from teammate Parker Rockholm into the back of the Granite City goal with 1:34 remaining. The goal lifted Alton to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory Tuesday at Piasa Motor Fuels Field.

The Redbirds trailed 2-0 at halftime and scored three unanswered goals for the victory, including the last two while playing a man down.

“I saw the ball coming all the way in,” Schmidt said of the cross from Rockholm from right wing. Schmidt was racing toward the left post and tapped it in. “It was a great ball from (Rockholm).”

After the final whistle, the teammates hugged near midfield, celebrating their team’s improbable victory.

“That’s something we have done in practice,” Rockholm said. “I hoped it would work today and it did.”

Alton (3-0-1) trailed 2-0 at halftime, but cut the lead in half early in the second. But when a second yellow card for rough play was issued to Roman Thomeczek with 24:15 left in the game, it meant Alton would play the rest of the way a player short and the Redbirds’ prognosis was grim.

But as often happens when a team is down a man, the Redbirds’ pace picked up.

“(Thomeczek) plays with such energy,” Alton coach Nick Funk said. “He said before the game didn’t like losing to Granite and he played extremely hard. I think when the rest of the team saw him go out, they picked up the pace to try and replace his energy.”

And while the Warriors (1-2-1) are no longer a Southwestern Conference rival, their level of play and tradition brought out Alton’s ‘A’ game.

The Redbirds dominated the first half with about 90 percent of the possession time and a 6-2 shots advantage, but fell victim to a pair of counter-attack goals by Granite City. Overall, the Redbirds outshot Granite City 12-6.

The first Warriors goal came when a shot by Chase Reeves deflected off the Alton defense and was pounced on by Cade Bobbit in the 11th minute.

The Warriors went up 2-0 in the 32 minute when Braden Dickerson took a pass from Noah Vanbuskirk and slipped it past Alton goalie Owen Macias inside the left goalpost.

Alton cut the lead in half early in the second half when Justin Davison scored on a rebound on a shot by Joe Morrissey in the 45th minute.

Twelve minutes later, even though they continued to dominate, the Redbirds found themselves facing an uphill climb with the prospect of trying to rally a player short after Thomeczek picked up the second yellow card.

It took just four minutes, however, for Alton to tie the score.

Brayden Decker scored when he took a right-wing cross from Joe Morrissey with 20:15 remaining. His goal finished off a play that started with a direct free kick from near midfield by Jake Lombardi to Morrissey, who found Decker inside the left post.

That set up the late-game heroics by Schmidt and Rockholm.

“(Schmidt and Rockholm) made the most of their time,” Funk said. “They came in and gave definitely gave us the lift when we needed it.”

Redbirds trail 2-0 at half, rally to beat Granite City 3-2

Pete Hayes, phayes@thetelegraph.com

 Updated 1:47 am CDT, Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Photo:

Pete Hayes | The Telegraph

Alton’s Jake Lombardi (10) and Granite City’s Hunter Harnetieux race for the ball during prep soccer action Tuesday at Alton High School. Alton rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to win 3-2.

GODFREY — Riley Schmidt’s eyes got as big as saucers when he saw the ball coming his way.

“I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess it up,’” Schmidt said. “It was a perfect cross.”

Schmidt did not mess it up. Far from it, in fact. He redirected that perfect far-post cross from teammate Parker Rockholm into the back of the Granite City goal with 1:34 remaining. The goal lifted Alton to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory Tuesday at Piasa Motor Fuels Field.

The Redbirds trailed 2-0 at halftime and scored three unanswered goals for the victory, including the last two while playing a man down.

“I saw the ball coming all the way in,” Schmidt said of the cross from Rockholm from right wing. Schmidt was racing toward the left post and tapped it in. “It was a great ball from (Rockholm).”

After the final whistle, the teammates hugged near midfield, celebrating their team’s improbable victory.

“That’s something we have done in practice,” Rockholm said. “I hoped it would work today and it did.”

Alton (3-0-1) trailed 2-0 at halftime, but cut the lead in half early in the second. But when a second yellow card for rough play was issued to Roman Thomeczek with 24:15 left in the game, it meant Alton would play the rest of the way a player short and the Redbirds’ prognosis was grim.

But as often happens when a team is down a man, the Redbirds’ pace picked up.

“(Thomeczek) plays with such energy,” Alton coach Nick Funk said. “He said before the game didn’t like losing to Granite and he played extremely hard. I think when the rest of the team saw him go out, they picked up the pace to try and replace his energy.”

And while the Warriors (1-2-1) are no longer a Southwestern Conference rival, their level of play and tradition brought out Alton’s ‘A’ game.

The Redbirds dominated the first half with about 90 percent of the possession time and a 6-2 shots advantage, but fell victim to a pair of counter-attack goals by Granite City. Overall, the Redbirds outshot Granite City 12-6.

The first Warriors goal came when a shot by Chase Reeves deflected off the Alton defense and was pounced on by Cade Bobbit in the 11th minute.

The Warriors went up 2-0 in the 32 minute when Braden Dickerson took a pass from Noah Vanbuskirk and slipped it past Alton goalie Owen Macias inside the left goalpost.

Alton cut the lead in half early in the second half when Justin Davison scored on a rebound on a shot by Joe Morrissey in the 45th minute.

Twelve minutes later, even though they continued to dominate, the Redbirds found themselves facing an uphill climb with the prospect of trying to rally a player short after Thomeczek picked up the second yellow card.

It took just four minutes, however, for Alton to tie the score.

Brayden Decker scored when he took a right-wing cross from Joe Morrissey with 20:15 remaining. His goal finished off a play that started with a direct free kick from near midfield by Jake Lombardi to Morrissey, who found Decker inside the left post.

That set up the late-game heroics by Schmidt and Rockholm.

“(Schmidt and Rockholm) made the most of their time,” Funk said. “They came in and gave definitely gave us the lift when we needed it.”

Redbirds trail 2-0 at half, rally to beat Granite City 3-2

Pete Hayes, phayes@thetelegraph.com

 Updated 1:47 am CDT, Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Photo:

Pete Hayes | The Telegraph

Alton’s Jake Lombardi (10) and Granite City’s Hunter Harnetieux race for the ball during prep soccer action Tuesday at Alton High School. Alton rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to win 3-2.

GODFREY — Riley Schmidt’s eyes got as big as saucers when he saw the ball coming his way.

“I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess it up,’” Schmidt said. “It was a perfect cross.”

Schmidt did not mess it up. Far from it, in fact. He redirected that perfect far-post cross from teammate Parker Rockholm into the back of the Granite City goal with 1:34 remaining. The goal lifted Alton to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory Tuesday at Piasa Motor Fuels Field.

The Redbirds trailed 2-0 at halftime and scored three unanswered goals for the victory, including the last two while playing a man down.

“I saw the ball coming all the way in,” Schmidt said of the cross from Rockholm from right wing. Schmidt was racing toward the left post and tapped it in. “It was a great ball from (Rockholm).”

After the final whistle, the teammates hugged near midfield, celebrating their team’s improbable victory.

“That’s something we have done in practice,” Rockholm said. “I hoped it would work today and it did.”

Alton (3-0-1) trailed 2-0 at halftime, but cut the lead in half early in the second. But when a second yellow card for rough play was issued to Roman Thomeczek with 24:15 left in the game, it meant Alton would play the rest of the way a player short and the Redbirds’ prognosis was grim.

But as often happens when a team is down a man, the Redbirds’ pace picked up.

“(Thomeczek) plays with such energy,” Alton coach Nick Funk said. “He said before the game didn’t like losing to Granite and he played extremely hard. I think when the rest of the team saw him go out, they picked up the pace to try and replace his energy.”

And while the Warriors (1-2-1) are no longer a Southwestern Conference rival, their level of play and tradition brought out Alton’s ‘A’ game.

The Redbirds dominated the first half with about 90 percent of the possession time and a 6-2 shots advantage, but fell victim to a pair of counter-attack goals by Granite City. Overall, the Redbirds outshot Granite City 12-6.

The first Warriors goal came when a shot by Chase Reeves deflected off the Alton defense and was pounced on by Cade Bobbit in the 11th minute.

The Warriors went up 2-0 in the 32 minute when Braden Dickerson took a pass from Noah Vanbuskirk and slipped it past Alton goalie Owen Macias inside the left goalpost.

Alton cut the lead in half early in the second half when Justin Davison scored on a rebound on a shot by Joe Morrissey in the 45th minute.

Twelve minutes later, even though they continued to dominate, the Redbirds found themselves facing an uphill climb with the prospect of trying to rally a player short after Thomeczek picked up the second yellow card.

It took just four minutes, however, for Alton to tie the score.

Brayden Decker scored when he took a right-wing cross from Joe Morrissey with 20:15 remaining. His goal finished off a play that started with a direct free kick from near midfield by Jake Lombardi to Morrissey, who found Decker inside the left post.

That set up the late-game heroics by Schmidt and Rockholm.

“(Schmidt and Rockholm) made the most of their time,” Funk said. “They came in and gave definitely gave us the lift when we needed it.”

Redbirds trail 2-0 at half, rally to beat Granite City 3-2

Pete Hayes, phayes@thetelegraph.com

 Updated 1:47 am CDT, Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Photo:

Pete Hayes | The Telegraph

Alton’s Jake Lombardi (10) and Granite City’s Hunter Harnetieux race for the ball during prep soccer action Tuesday at Alton High School. Alton rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit to win 3-2.

GODFREY — Riley Schmidt’s eyes got as big as saucers when he saw the ball coming his way.

“I was thinking, ‘Don’t mess it up,’” Schmidt said. “It was a perfect cross.”

Schmidt did not mess it up. Far from it, in fact. He redirected that perfect far-post cross from teammate Parker Rockholm into the back of the Granite City goal with 1:34 remaining. The goal lifted Alton to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory Tuesday at Piasa Motor Fuels Field.

The Redbirds trailed 2-0 at halftime and scored three unanswered goals for the victory, including the last two while playing a man down.

“I saw the ball coming all the way in,” Schmidt said of the cross from Rockholm from right wing. Schmidt was racing toward the left post and tapped it in. “It was a great ball from (Rockholm).”

After the final whistle, the teammates hugged near midfield, celebrating their team’s improbable victory.

“That’s something we have done in practice,” Rockholm said. “I hoped it would work today and it did.”

Alton (3-0-1) trailed 2-0 at halftime, but cut the lead in half early in the second. But when a second yellow card for rough play was issued to Roman Thomeczek with 24:15 left in the game, it meant Alton would play the rest of the way a player short and the Redbirds’ prognosis was grim.

But as often happens when a team is down a man, the Redbirds’ pace picked up.

“(Thomeczek) plays with such energy,” Alton coach Nick Funk said. “He said before the game didn’t like losing to Granite and he played extremely hard. I think when the rest of the team saw him go out, they picked up the pace to try and replace his energy.”

And while the Warriors (1-2-1) are no longer a Southwestern Conference rival, their level of play and tradition brought out Alton’s ‘A’ game.

The Redbirds dominated the first half with about 90 percent of the possession time and a 6-2 shots advantage, but fell victim to a pair of counter-attack goals by Granite City. Overall, the Redbirds outshot Granite City 12-6.

The first Warriors goal came when a shot by Chase Reeves deflected off the Alton defense and was pounced on by Cade Bobbit in the 11th minute.

The Warriors went up 2-0 in the 32 minute when Braden Dickerson took a pass from Noah Vanbuskirk and slipped it past Alton goalie Owen Macias inside the left goalpost.

Alton cut the lead in half early in the second half when Justin Davison scored on a rebound on a shot by Joe Morrissey in the 45th minute.

Twelve minutes later, even though they continued to dominate, the Redbirds found themselves facing an uphill climb with the prospect of trying to rally a player short after Thomeczek picked up the second yellow card.

It took just four minutes, however, for Alton to tie the score.

Brayden Decker scored when he took a right-wing cross from Joe Morrissey with 20:15 remaining. His goal finished off a play that started with a direct free kick from near midfield by Jake Lombardi to Morrissey, who found Decker inside the left post.

That set up the late-game heroics by Schmidt and Rockholm.

“(Schmidt and Rockholm) made the most of their time,” Funk said. “They came in and gave definitely gave us the lift when we needed it.”