Sophomore Mathenia, defense lead Belleville West to city soccer championship

Belleville West sophomore Taylor Mathenia’s productive week of soccer got even better on Thursday at McKendree University.

Only two days after scoring a pair of goals in a 3-0 win over Granite City, Mathenia tallied twice again — this time with the city championship on the line — as Belleville West clinched a second straight title with a 2-0 win over Althoff.

Working to perfection with senior Amelia Coyne on a corner kick, Mathenia beat Althoff goalie Rachel Monken from point blank range just 10 minutes into the game to give the Maroons the only goal they would need against a young Althoff squad.

“Amelia Coyne is becoming very adapt at putting the corner kick where she’s giving our players excellent scoring opportunities. The one on the first goal tonight was right where it needed to be and Taylor (Mathenia) was able to finish,” Belleville West coach Jason Mathenia said. “This (city) title is always nice to have and the girls came out and played very well. In the past we’ve always played Althoff first, but this year we played (Belleville) East earlier in the season and were fortunate to come out with a 2-0 win.

“Tonight we win again 2-0 against a very well coached Althoff squad.”

Mathenia tallied again with just under 19 minutes left in the game and the Maroons defense did the rest as it backed up the solid play of goaltender Bailey Redden.

Althoff freshman Andersyn Foster had a couple of scoring chances late in the game, but twice the Maroons defense deflected shots before they got to Redden.

“Our backs really did a good job tonight,” Mathenia said. “We made some adjustments in terms of personnel a couple of games ago and so far its worked well in that we’ve been able to get consecutive shutouts.”

How it went

Althoff (5-5-1) came out firing in the first 20 minutes of the first half. Numerous good shots on goal were turned away by Redden and the Maroons defense.

“Honestly, I thought we came out and really had the better of the play in the first half,” Althoff coach Juergen Huettner said. “We had several good chances to score but we just didn’t finish. I can’t fault the girls effort. They played hard and they played well, we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. It was important because if we could have been the team which scored the first goal, it made have changed the complexion of the game.

“The second half we just didn’t have that many good chances. Give West credit. The first goal was on a a great corner kick and the second was on a a shot which got into the top roght hand corner of the net. It was a very well placed shot.”

The second goal by Mathenia all but iced the win for West (6-3-2).

“She’s coming along,” Jason Mathenia said of his daughter’s play. “We’re working on things to make her even better.”

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Sophomore Mathenia, defense lead Belleville West to city soccer championship."