HAZELWOOD, Mo. — The Alton Redbirds got some return on their shots Tuesday night. And even though they would have liked a higher return, the result was still a 3-0 victory over Trinity Catholic High.
“We were frustrated that we had so much pressure on them with little to show for it,” said Alton coach Jeff Hayes, whose team outshot Trinity 23-8. “But we kept our composure and played hard the entire 80 minutes.”
The nonconference victory lifted Alton to 8-2-1 on the season and came on the heels of the Redbirds’ first Southwestern Conference loss of the season, 4-1 last Thursday at Collinsville.
“It was nice to bounce back from a rough loss by getting a win,” Hayes said.
Alton got on the scoreboard early when Brianna Hatfield scored her 12th goal of the season.
The play started when Makayla Cox played the ball to the corner to Alaina Nasello, beat a Trinity defender and dropped the ball back to Hatfield, who cut to the center of the field, beat another defender and scored inside the far post.
The shots kept coming after that early goal, but it wasn’t until well into the second half before Alton’s second goal.
It came after Taylor Imming won a loose ball at midfield and dropped it to teammate Lexi Schrimpf, whose shot from about 50 yards took a wild bounce over Trinity goalie Kiersten Weber in the 58th minute to make it 2-0.
In the 70th minute, Maggie Evans made a run down right wing and slotted the ball to Breana Smith, who settled the ball and then scored to the right corner.
Kaija Ufert notched the shutout in goal for Alton. It was the Redbirds’ third shutout of the season.
“I’m happy our defense has a shutout to show for it,” Hayes said. “They’ve been playing hard and they deserve it.”