Second-half goal leads to WB6 victory for Blue Devils and guarantees share of league title

QUINCY — The Western Big 6 Conference championship was within reach.

The Quincy HIgh School girls soccer team simply had to grab it.

A more spirited effort in the second half of Tuesday night’s game against Rock Island Alleman allowed the Blue Devils to do that. A ball that ricocheted into the goal off a Rian Moore corner kick gave QHS all it needed for a 1-0 victory at Flinn Stadium.

With it, the Blue Devils improve to 6-0 in the WB6 and guarantee themselves no worse than a tie for the championship. They can win the title outright next Tuesday with a victory at Rock Island.

“The girls had a bad taste in their mouth after last season and they wanted to get that conference title back,” QHS coach Travis Dinkheller said. “I thought we got off to a slow start. In the second half, I thought we played much better, much more on a mission.

“The girls did a better job of getting forward and were more aggressive.”

It created multiple scoring opportunities and allowed the Blue Devils to dictate pace of play.

“When I say aggressive, they were getting aggressive with the ball,” Dinkheller said. “It wasn’t passive and bringing the ball back and cutting the ball. We were trying to get in the box and create opportunities in front of the goal. And we did. We didn’t finish all of them, but we did create opportunities.”

It’s how Moore’s corner kick led to the goal.

“We always say put it in the mix and put it in there where it causes trouble,” Dinkheller said.