Triumph, ecstatic and jubilant are just a few words to describe the Tiger Boys Soccer team as they walked off the Hoffman Estates pitch last season with their heads held high raising that State Championship trophy. This year, there will not be a repeat.
The Tigers fell victim of a 2-1 overtime defeat against Normal Community last Saturday in the Sectional Final game.
“Words cannot describe how proud I am of my team,” senior captain Landon Paul said. “Everyone worked their very hardest and we had a fun time along the way and that’s really all that matters.”
Edwardsville ends their season at 17-4-1 with two of those losses coming to the hands of Normal. The Ironmen defeated the Tigers back on Sept. 27, 1-0 in a closely contested game.
“Normal Community is as good as team as there is in the state,” head coach Mark Heiderscheid said. “They have great defending, three All-Staters and a 35 goal scorer who scored a couple against us.”
The Tigers overall had a very successful season as they defeated Quincy for the Regional crown and were once again Southwestern Conference Champions.
“We were all doubted in the beginning but in the final run we turned some heads with big wins and showed great team chemistry,” junior Max Keiffer said. “With such a young team and a few veterans we accomplished quite a bit.”
The All-State selection senior Landon Paul led the Tigers in scoring this year racking up 19 goals and helping out with 17 assists.
“It is easy to look and see Landon has “x” number of goals but that doesn’t describe him, Heiderscheid said. “It is his loyalty, dedication; it is Landon as a human being that makes him such a great person to have in your program.”
Senior Suleman Bazai was also a force for the Tigers this year as he scored 14 goals and tallied eight assists along the way.
“He is young and talented and as a junior his pace, athleticism and strength got a ton better and it showed this year as a senior,” Heiderscheid said.
Leading the defense this year was senior Liam Burke. Burke was stranded with a completely new starting defensive unit from last year due to the graduations of Hayden Hessler and Josh Kowalis and the decisions of juniors Austin Toby and Tommy Giacobbe to play academy this year instead of high school soccer.
“It was a tough deal for Liam this year,” Heiderscheid said. “New goalie, three new starters, two new subs but he still stepped up in the majority of air-battles.”
Burke definitely helped his young counterparts along the way this year. Starting next to Burke were juniors Max Keiffer and Tristin Lieberman as well as freshman Zach Timmerman.
“We all know how rare it is for a freshman to perform at a varsity level with kids three to four years older,” Burke said. “Timmerman has the skill and leadership to continue the legacy that we seniors will be leaving behind.”
Timmermann will be a player to watch next season for the Tigers as they graduate six starters this season with Paul, Bazai and Burke as well as Drew Flaugher, Andrew Effler and Andrew Mullican.
“Mullican was one of the top players for three years,” Heiderscheid said. “He created an amazing duo Landon at midfield and is a very underrated player.”
New goalie junior Trey Riley split time with senior Trentan Daley early on in the season before conquering the starting job late on in the season.
Riley and Keiffer are both going to be factors for the Tigers next season as they possess great athletic ability and leadership. “Max is a beast, kind of like Josh Kowalis and Trey has great athleticism and height,” Paul said. “They are both preseason picks for All-State in my eyes and we couldn’t have gone as far as we did without them anchoring our backfield.”
The end of an era has seemingly ended for Tiger soccer as all the starters from the 2013 State Championship team have officially left the program. “It leaves a huge dent in the program with these kids leaving,” Heiderscheid said. “It is like my kids going to college.”