GRANITE CITY — What went around came back around on the Alton girls soccer team Wednesday night.

A tweak here, an adjustment there and a change in attitude turned out to be the winning formula for the Granite City girls soccer team Wednesday night – and the end of the season for Alton.

Granite City knocked off Alton 4-0 in a semifinal of the Quincy Class 3A Regional at Granite City’s Gene Baker Field. Just 10 days ago, Alton downed Granite City 2-1 at AHS.

But the Warriors were having none of that Wednesday.

“One difference was that our girls came to play tonight,” Granite City coach Kenny Prazma said, ” and we put a lot of pressure on (Alton’s) defense.

“That’s the style of play we want to use every game, but we didn’t get it the first game (against Alton).”

The victory means the Warriors (14-5) will take on Collinsville (15-6-1) in the championship game Friday at McKendree University in Lebanon. The change from Quincy’s Flinn Stadium was made after Collinsville ousted Quincy 10-2 Tuesday, leaving only Metro East schools still alive in the tournament.

Alton bows out at 12-6-2.

“Granite came out hard and their forwards pressured our defense,” Alton coach Jeff Hayes said. “That was something we did (in the last game) to them and helped us get the win.”

The Warriors led 1-0 at halftime on a Lexi Grote penalty kick, but quickly made it 2-0 early in the second on a Grace Neihardt goal.

The weather threatened to wreak havoc with play Wednesday. Strong gusting winds played tricks with the ball, especially in the first half. But in the end, in was not Mother Nature, but the Warriors who deserve the credit, according to Alton’s Hayes.

“(Granite City) played a good game and that’s why they won,” Hayes said. “The wind really affected things at times, but it didn’t determine who won the game.”

Prazma agreed.

“The wind was really bad at times,” he said, “but it affected both teams.”

Niehardt made it 2-0 when she volleyed in a Grote corner kick from the left side. The ball slipped inside the far post.

The Redbirds then created several good scoring chances in an effort to cut the Granite City lead in half.

In the 56th minute, Alton’s Brianna Hatfield took over a loose ball in the penalty area and was one-on-one with Granite goalie Viktoria Johnson, who smothered Hatfield’s shot about six yards out.

In the 62nd minute, Alaina Nasello stole a defensive pass in the penalty area, but her shot was wide right.

Grote made it 3-0 in the 64th minute. she got a through pass from Niehardt just past the center stripe and raced in alone on Alton goalie Kaija Ufert. Grote deked the bail around Ufert and tapped it in.

The final goal came from Abigail Reeves, who blasted a direct free kick from about 40 yards out in the 79th minute.

“It’s been an interesting season,” Hayes said. ” These girls did some things that hadn’t been done for a while. They won three (Southwestern) conference games and they improved along the way. It’s a really good group.”