Blue Devils’ resilient effort not enough as Tigers score pair of daggers in regional semifinal victory

QUINCY — Andrew Brown understood what the quiet walk across the Flinn Stadium turf meant.

He was saying goodbye.

“A lot of these guys, I’ve played with my whole childhood,” said Brown, a senior midfielder and co-captain of the Quincy High School boys soccer team. “Going to college and after this season moving on to completely new teammates, it’s tough. I’m not going to be with these guys, and it hurts. They’re like family.”

This family stuck together until the very end.

Third-seeded Edwardsville parlayed a goal with five seconds remaining in the first half and another 38 seconds into the second half into a 4-0 victory Tuesday night in the semifinals of the Class 3A Quincy Regional.

“We finished the latter part of the season like we were accomplishing something,” Brown said after the eighth-seeded Blue Devils bowed out with a 3-15-2 record. “We felt like we had a chance to come in on our home field and do something which hadn’t been done in a while, which was win a regional.

“I think we took it to them parts of tonight. … It sucks, and sometimes you’re going to take some punches. You have to learn from those.”

The Tigers delivered no bigger haymaker than scoring seconds before halftime.

With time winding down and the ball in the right corner, Edwardsville’s Henry Vivian worked the ball along the endline and buried a short-angle shot just five seconds before halftime.

“No one could have seen that coming,” Tigers coach Mark Heiderscheid said.

The flurry the Tigers threw at the Blue Devils’ goal to start the second half was unexpected, too.

After Edwardsville clanged a pair of chances off the crossbar on the opening salvo of the second half, a foul was called in the box before the play could be cleared. Ben Leardi converted the PK, giving the Tigers a two-goal edge just 38 seconds into the half.

“At that point, we were getting some territory,” Heiderscheid said. “So the thought was, ‘If you could get that second one, things change.’ It allows you the ability to relax.”

Or puts you on your heels in Quincy’s case.

“To give up that goal with five seconds to go in the half really was a dagger,” Quincy coach Ron Bridal said. “At halftime, we talked about the things we needed to do. Then comes that second-half  dagger less than a minute in, and it was just as painful.”

So was the loss of starting center back Aidan Albert, who left with an arm injury in the game’s first 10 minutes. Junior defender Reed Mast slid into that role and frustrated the Tigers with his ability to clear and win balls in the air.

“I’m proud of Reed and his performance tonight,” Bridal said.

Yet, it was too much pressure and persistence from the Tigers for the Blue Devils to handle as Edwardsville scored twice in the final 15 minutes to put the game away.

“Kudos to the character of the Quincy kids,” Heiderscheid said. “They continued to press with a lot of energy and made it phenomenally difficult for us. On our part, it allowed us to know now we can try to work the ball, try to see if you can get that third goal. There was so much less pressure once we got that one.”

That didn’t diminish the effort the Blue Devils put forth.

“These guys have been dogging them all season because of their record,” Bridal said. “But put the record aside. These kids are hard workers. They’re resilient. They’re the kind of kids who would help each other out in a heartbeat. The resilience they showed coming back each day to practice, listening at games says a lot about their character.

“Our players were always there for each other.”