GODFREY — With the final five minutes of overtime ticking away in Saturday’s scoreless 3A regional play-in game, Granite City soccer coach Ryan Reeves gave a verbal vote of confidence to his goalie, Ymaury Escarene.

“I believe in you,” Reeves shouted. “I’ll take my chances with you in five minutes.”

After 100 minutes of scoreless soccer and two sets of penalty kicks, Granite City emerged with a 6-5 edge in penalties at Piasa Motor Fuels Field. The result means a semifinal berth against host Edwardsville 3A Regional Tournament at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The IHSA will record to outcome as a 1-0 Granite City victory.

Reeves’ confidence was well-placed, despite the fact that Escarene was still getting feet wet as a high school goalie. The backup-turned-starter made three saves in the first set of penalty kicks, setting up a set of sudden-death PKs, which finally ended when the penalty taken by Alton’s last shooter hit the right goal post.

The Warriors, at 1-14-1, came into the game on the heels of the most forgettable season in the perennial soccer power’s history. After the marathon game, they headed home with a memorable victory, thanks in great part to Escarene, who was forced from his field position of striker to goal when regular keeper Braden Dickerson was ruled out of action because of concussion protocol.

Alton, which had defeated Granite city 4-0 earlier in the season, had plenty of chances to win the game in regulation as well as in overtime. But Escarene was like a stone wall.

“I’ve played goalie all my life,” Escarene said, “but not much in high school. Not long at all.”

But evidently long enough.

Normally a forward, Escarene has scored a pair of goals for Granite City this season.

Alton’s ouster left the Redbirds dazed, some heartbroken, and al searching for answers.

The Redbirds ended the season 10-9-2.

“It’s hard to score when the other team is pretty much just playing defense,” Alton coach Nick Funk said. “We dominated them the last time and we had a lot of chances today, but there was something missing. I know our guys wanted it as much as Granite, but sometimes it didn’t look like it.”

Alton goalie Hunter Dill was equal to the task as well. He shut out the Warriors through 100 minutes and madethree saves of his own in the penalty kick shootout.

“Hunter did a great job,” Funk said. “He always does.”

Granite City shooters went first in the shootout. The difference in the sudden-death shootout was that the Redbirds misfired on their last two chances. After each team had made its first three PKs, Dill made a save on No. 4 Granite City shooter No. 4 Jose Rios.

Needing a successful conversion to win the sudden-death session, the fourth Alton attempt instead sailed over the top of the goal, giving Granite City new life.

“It’s a tough way to see it end,” Funk said. “This group came into the season with only two returning starters and they came a long way. It hurts now, but this group will be back and be better.”

GODFREY — Alton coach Nick Funk was quick to dispel any notion of a “Collinsville thing” among his Alton High soccer players following a 1-0 loss Thursday at Piasa Motor Fuels Field. Even though the perennially tough Kahoks always present problems, Funk said his Alton team doesn’t lock up when it faces them.

But Funk was nonetheless searching for an answer the Southwestern Conference defeat. A goal by Ruben Oritz in the 59th minute turned out to be all the Kahoks needed for victory in the regular season finale for each team.

“It’s not that we lock up against Collinsville,” Funk said. “Today, we used a new formation to try and deal with the 4-3-3 they use, which is a little different from what we usually face. But we didn’t win any 50-50 balls and didn’t win anything in the air.

“Some of our players do remember that our last two games last year were losses to Collinsville 4-0 and 4-1, but I don’t think that didn’t have an affect on how we played today.”

Alton finished the regular season 10-8-2 overall and 1-4-1 in the SWC. Collinsville is 14-7 and 5-1. The Kahoks finished second in the conference race behind Edwardsville, which finished 5-0-1, the tie a scoreless one with Alton.

Each team will turn shift its focus to the postseason. The Redbirds will play host to Granite City in a play-in game of the Edwardsville Class 3A Regional Tournament at 11 am. Saturday. The winner will move on to a semifinal matchup against top-seeded Edwardsville. Collinsville will face host Springfield Oct. 17 in a semifinal of the Springfield 3A Regional.

Thursday, Collinsville dominated much of the possession and had a 9-3 shots advantage. But the Kahoks were stonewalled time and time again by Alton goalie Hunter Dill, who made seven saves, including two of the acrobatic variety.

“Hunter had a really good game,” Funk said. “He kept us in it. When it’s close, all you need is one good counter or a mistake by the defense and you’re right back in it.”

Oritz scored from directly in front of the goal after taking a cross form right wing by Logan Whitehead. Ortiz, sliding toward Dill, poked the past the Alton goalie from about eight yards out.

The Kahoks thought they had added an insurance goal in the closing seconds of the game, but it was disallowed because of an offsides call.

Other chances by Collinsville included point-blank shots in the second half by Hunter Counton and Whitehead that were smothered by Dill. Also, Luke Lijegren shot high on a wide-open goal early in the first half.

The best chance at a goal for the Redbirds came in the 70th minute when a deflection by Jaden Singleton sailed wide right of the Kahoks goal.

“Today, we never really put anything together offensively,” Funk said. “It was there from time to time, but we didn’t connect coming out of the back.

“We need to learn from today and get ready to play again in about 36 hours.”

GODFREY — Alton and Edwardsville’s scoreless tie through regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods Tuesday at Alton High indicates things were pretty even-steven between the Southwestern Conference rivals.

But one coach’s good result can be another coach’s cause for concern.

Alton coach Nick Funk, while bemoaning the Redbirds’ lack of finishing the chances, still said a tie with Edwardsville – and a shutout to boot – is a positive.

“A tie isn’t a bad result against them, especially a day before the (playoff) seedings” Funk said, “but we did have chances, especially in the second half.”

Edwardsville’s Mark Heiderscheid, however, was more concerned with the “fit” in “fit to be tied.”

Two of Edwardsville’s top defensive players, Zach Timmerman and Kadin Lieberman went down with injuries. Add to that fellow back Daniel Hentz, who was held out because of concussion protocol from a Saturday injury, and Heiderscheid was left concerned for the Tigers’ plans for the future.

“(Hentz) was concussed and (Timmerman) is a knee,” Heiderscheid said. “We’re hoping it’s not an ACL. We’re not sure about Lieberman. At first, I thought it was a calf contusion, but we don’t know. They’re critical to our defense.

“Of course, I was concerned with the game,” Heiderscheid said, “but more important than that is the health of these young men and the impact on planning for the playoffs as well.

“We played pretty well at times tonight and we did OK with the somewhat depleted defense. And I thought we connected the heck out of the ball.”

The Tigers controlled much of the possession through the first half and early in the second and penetrated deep into the Redbirds’ defensive third of the field. But the scoring chances weren’t al that golden, except for a penalty kick they thought they had earned – but was taken away.

With 3:44 remaining in the half, the center referee indicated a penalty kick for the Tigers after he thought Ethan Miracle had been fouled by Alton back Levi Davis. But the referee’s assistant on that end of the field called over the center ref and after they conferred, the penalty kick was waived off.

“I’ve never seen that happen,” Heiderscheid said to Funk on the sideline.

Funk answered, “Neither have I, but I’m not mad about it.”

Davis, a senior, shut down several Edwardsville chances.

“Levi is my rock,” Funk said. “He’s an absolute game changer. I’d say he played the best game of his career, but I’ve never seen him play any different.”

In the first of two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes, Alton had a scoring chance when Pete Rockholm was taken down just outside the right corner of the Tigers’ penalty area. But Jake Lombardi’s ensuing free kick was off target. Then, with 1:20 left, Davis made a stop on defense, dribbled the ball up right wing and passed it to Jaden Singleton, who sent it to Justin Davison, whose shot was wide right.

Early in the second overtime, Edwardsville’s Alec Mills hit a long, low knuckler that Alton goalie Hunter Dill smothered.

Dill notched his sixth shutout of the season. Yet, Funk said the senior goalie’s best game may still lie ahead of him.

“Hunter is a good goalie, ” Funk said, “but I’m not sure Hunter knows how good he really is.”

The Redbirds are 9-5-2 and 1-2-1 in the SWC. The Tigers are 11-1-2 overall and 4-0-1 in the conference. One of their earlier victories was a 2-0 win over Alton in the Alton Tournament early in the season.

“There was the ‘Fear of Edwardsville thing,’ in the first half tonight” Funk said. “We had a long talk at halftime and I think our guys got over it. They took it to heart.”

An quick start seemed to forecast a possible rout in Alton High’s CYC Tournament Sullivan Division game against Bayless Wednesday night. And while the Redbirds did dominate, a goal by Joey Morrissey in the 10th minute was all they got.

It was also the only goal they needed in a 1-0 victory at Bayless High School. The defeat was the first of the season for Bayless, which is 10-1-2 overall and 1-1 in the CYC. Bayless will face Mascoutah Thursday in its third tourney game. Alton is-4 overall and 2-0 in the CYC Tourney.

Meanwhile, the CYC Tourney news was not as good for the Marquette Catholic Explorers, who fell to Liberty High of Wentzville 4-0.

ALTON 1, BAYLESS 0 – “We came out very hot,” Alton coach Nick Funk said. “We had possession, we had shots, we had momentum, but we didn’t have any goals.”

Morrissey took care of that. He scored his eighth goal of the season from an assist by Sam Stutz.

The play began when Stutz flicked a long throw-in from Parker Rockholm. Morrissey gathered the ball and scored.

Alton possession as well as a smothering defense took care of the rest.

“I thought we played really well in the first half,” Funk said. “In the second half, we still controlled the game, but play slowed down for both teams. I can only believe it was the heat.”

Temperatures hovered in the high 80s to low 90s during the game, which was played on Bayless High School’s artificial turf.

“Temperatures on the turf were well over 100 degrees,” Funk said. “And you could definitely tell it through the players.”

The shutout victory for the Redbirds means they maxed out on points possible from the game and put their tourney future in their own hands heading into their third game Thursday againstNorthwest, which had tied Bayless 1-1 Tuesday night.

“Luckily, we control our own destiny,” Funk said, ” so if we show up, we should move on to Friday.”

FENTON — Alton coach Nick Funk knew his Redbirds best be prepared for a dogfight in Tuesday’s CYC Tournament-Sullivan Division opener against Troy (Missouri) Buchanan. While the 5-1 Alton win at World Wide Technologies Soccer Park might indicate Funk’s charges were over-prepared, such wasn’t the case, he said.

“We really played well tonight off the first whistle,” Funk said. “Troy was the team we faced in the overtime last year in the semis of the CYC Tournament, so we knew we had to be ready for them.”

Meanwhile, in a late CYC game at Soccer Park, Marquette Catholic High ran its CYC Tourney mark to 2-0 with a 2-0 victory over Fox High.

Alton 5, Troy 1 – The Redbirds struck twice within the first 10 minutes and set Troy on its heels. And Alton kept up the pressure.

“We kept our foot on the pedal,” Funk said. “We had to change up our formation because if unforeseen circumstances this week and the kids were forced to step into unfamiliar roles and they really did well. “

The Redbirds (8-4 overall) will play at Bayless at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday in their second game of the tournament. They will finish pool play Thursday at 7:45 p.m. against Northwest Cedar Hill at Soccer Park.

“We were able to maximize our allowed goal differential which is nice,” Funk said. “Kids love the CYC Tourney and I also believe it’s good for us to check our mid season competitiveness in a tournament style format. Especially a tournament with such rich history.”

This is the 63rd annual CYC Tourney.

Jake Lombardi scored in the sixth minute from a Parker Rockholm assist and Blake Dunse added a goal four minutes later off an assist from Brayden Decker to open a 2-0 Alton lead.

Colin Lombardi converted a penalty kick in the 19th minute to make it 3-0 at halftime.

In the second half, Michael Stark scored in the 44th minute from an assist by Rockholm to make it 4-0 before Troy scored in the 55th minute to make it 4-1. Alton’s Jaden Singleton finished the scoring from a Dunse assist in the 62nd minute.

TROY — Nick Funk said his Alton High boys soccer team reached a level he’d not seen before Saturday against Triad.

Playing short-handed after losing their starting goalie to a red card, the Redbirds got a goal from Jake Lombardi in the 70th minute and survived the nonconference nail-biter 2-1.

“This was one of the hardest-played games for our boys all year,” Funk said. “They showed grit and they showed focus.”

After the redbirds went ahead 1-0 in the 22nd minute on a breakaway goal from Roman Thomeczek from a Sam Van Voorhis assist, the roof apparently came crashing down on Alton when starting goalie Hunter Dill was red-carded for picking up the ball outside the penalty area, making it an intentional handball.

“It was hard (for Dill) to see the poorly painted lines on the football field,” Funk said. “I don’t believe a straight red was deserved, but that’s neither here nor that at this point.

“Our boys found a new level of focus and determination after that happened. We played just as hard, if not harder, after that.”

The Redbirds held the Knights to just three shots from that point.

The victory lifts Alton to 7-4, while Triad dropped to 5-7-1.

Triad tied the game 1-1 early in the second half when Zach Kraabel scored a back-door goal from a Grant Keller assist on the Knights’ first and only shot of the game in the 53rd minute.

The Redbirds, who outshot Triad 7-3, held fast. Backup goalie Myles Marfell and the Redbirds defense held Triad at bay. And Lombardiand Thomeczek took care of things on offense.

The winning goal came when Lombardi sent a through-ball to Lombardi, who slid the ball past the Triad goalie.

“It’s not easy to scored a man down,”Funk said, “especially against a good team like Triad and especially when it’s the winning goal late in the game.

“I was very proud of the guys today for the ability to overcome and grind it out.”

GRANITE CITY — Just barely a week out of preseason practice, Alton soccer coach Nick Funk has discovered something about his team he suspected could be true.

The Redbirds have developed a new personality – and he likes what he’s seeing.

Alton shook off a slow start Tuesday night, finally scored just before halftime, then rolled past Granite City 4-0 in a Southwestern Conference game at Gene Baker Field.

“Last year, we had to beat up teams to win,” Funk said. “This year, we can go around them.

“We were built around a few guys up the middle last season, but this year, I think we probably have the best team position-by-position that Alton has had in five or six years.”

The victory, in which the Redbirds outshot the Warriors 17-4, has Alton sitting at 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the SWC. Joe Morrissey had two goals for the Redbirds.

“Coming out of preseason, I wasn’t sure, but I thought we might have a chance to be pretty good,” Funk said. “We still have a lot of things to work on, of course.”

The Redbirds indeed started slowly against Granite City, but still maintained an edge in possession despite not putting the ball in the goal.

That changed with 36 seconds remaining in the half when Blake Dunse scored off an assist from Sam Van Voorhees.

“We had probably 80 percent of the possession, but didn’t finish,” Funk said of the redbirds’ first-half play.

In the second half, Morrissey doubled the Redbirds lead in the 46th minute when he headed in a cross from Parker Rockholm.

Three minutes later, Morrissey was at it again. He scored on a headball off a long-range direct free kick by Sam Stutz.

“(Morrissey) is a stud for us,” Funk said. “He provides a real spark. Last year, he was out because of illness most of the season and didn’t even get a start until the regional. His speed and finishing ability are great and he’s outstanding in the air.”

The Redbirds finished the scoring when Lucas Admire won the ball off an errant clearing pass by the Granite City defense and scored from the left side, about 20 yards out, inside the near post.

“We’re looking like a totally different team from last year,” Funk said. “We weren’t scoring early tonight, but we stayed with it and kept working at it and finally broke through.”

The redbirds will step outside the SWC Saturday when they travel to Quincy to face the Quincy High Blue devils.

“That’ll be another good test,” Funk said. “We need to play consistently and keep working.”

GODFREY — Alton ran up against a familiar foe in Saturday’s championship game of its own round-robin soccer tournament. And it wasn’t just SWC rival Edwardsville that earned a 2-0 win and the tourney crown, it was the Tigers’ soccer mystique that has apparently befuddled some of the Redbirds players in recent years.

“It’s that Edwardsville thing,” AHS coach Nick Funk said. “We play well, but our kids look intimidated when t’s Edwardsville. We played timid today in the first half and it cost us.”

Edwardsville’s Kyle Wright scored a first-half goal rebounding a penalty kick and Cooper Nolan added a late breakaway for the Tigers’ goals.

“We played them 50-50 the second half,” Funk said. “I’m not sure what it is about Edwardsville to these kids, but when I was playing at Alton, it wasn’t there.”

Wright’s PK was saved by goalie Hunter Dill, but Miracle swooped in and scored on the rebound in the 22nd minute.

Then, with 12 minutes remaining in the game, Nolan scored on a breakaway after the AHS defense misplayed clearing the ball.

“Overall, we didn’t look bad,” Funk said. “And that’s the main thing in early tournaments.

Alton 1, Dunlap 0 – Morrissey scored in the 10th minute and the Redbirds made that goal hold up in the win over Dunlap. Morrissey was assisted on the goal by Colin Lombardi.

Lombardi blasted a shot that dipped just before the Dunlap keeper tipped it off the crossbar. Morrissey was there to finish.

“Dunlap is very good, with great speed up top and on the wings,” Funk said. “We handled the pressure well and we were able to win the midfield battle.”

Edwardsville 6, Murphysboro 0 – The Tigers scored three goals in each half and rolled to the easy win.

In the first half, EHS got goals from Kyle Wright, Ethan Miracle and Kurt Wright. In the second half, Seth Goodman, Nick Noel and Cooper Nolan scored. Alex Kehere and Andrew Wilke shared the shutout in goal.