Perryville soccer team defeats crosstown rival St. Vincent 2-1

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- Perryville sophomore Natalie Gremaud noticed a trend from St. Vincent goalie Katie Mattingly during Thursday's soccer game.

So when Gremaud found herself in the box late in a tied game, she used that information to her advantage.

"Their sweeper stayed back a little bit, so I saw an open shot and took it," she said. "High, left corner and right above her hands. I knew [Mattingly] wasn't very sure-handed, so I knew to aim high."

Gremaud's high shot sneaked inside the goalpost for the game-winner with 10 minutes left in the second half. The Pirates thwarted the Indians' push after that to post the 2-1 victory.

"I was so excited," Gremaud said. "I knew my team needed a goal, and I took advantage of it."

St. Vincent's goalkeeper Katie Mattingly and Mallory Tucker watch a goal scored by Perryville's Kelsey Schremp (23) during the first half Thursday, April 7, 2011 in Perryville, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Gremaud took a pass from Sam Amberger to Mattingly's right but didn't consider trying to aim for the far corner of the goal, where there was more space. She instead tried to jam it between Mattingly and the post.

"She's a very smart goalie so she'd been practicing far left corner so I knew she'd be cheating that way, so I took it to the left," Gremaud said.

St. Vincent dominated the second half but couldn't pull even after Perryville scored in the opening minutes of the game. The Indians pelted Perryville goalie Natalie Bauwens, who sucked up anything destined for the goal. One of Bauwens' best stops came on a diving stab with just less than 15 minutes left in the second half.

"If we would have played anywhere like that in the first half, it might have been 0-0 or 1-1 or we may even get the lead," St. Vincent coach Dusty Wengert said. "I told our girls afterward that they aren't good enough to have that on/off switch. It's got to be on at all times."

St. Vincent finally pulled even when junior Kayla Seabaugh blasted a shot from just inside the box that ricocheted off Bauwens' hands and into the goal with 14:11 left in the game.

St. Vincent goalkeeper Katie Mattingly makes a save during the first half Thursday in Perryville, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

"It was a pretty hard kick," Bauwens said. "I regret it because I felt like I should have got it. It was hard, I'll give her that."

St. Vincent (6-1) continued to push the tempo, but Perryville managed to gain control and pushed downfield, which led to Gremaud's tally.

"I think we knew we let down at the beginning of the second half, and after they scored, we were like, 'That's it. We have to pick it back up,'" Bauwens said.

Both teams found themselves in an unusual position during Thursday's game. Perryville (2-3) has been sticking with teams, but the Pirates have suffered three one-goal losses. One of those came against St. Vincent on March 24.

"When we came out and scored three minutes into the game, we set the tone we've talked about having to set," Perryville coach Stacie Sargent said. "Being in three one-goal games and losing to Jackson the other day, whether we were the best team or not, we were there. We've been in the games, and that's what we've talked about in practice is getting over the hump."

Perryville's Kelsey Schremp, left, works against St. Vincent's Mallory Tucker during the first half Thursday.

Meanwhile, Kelsey Schremp's first goal of the season less than four minutes into Thursday's game left St. Vincent in an uncomfortable position.

"We don't know how to play from behind with our success, and we play out front," Wengert said. "You go back to our losses last year -- we lost to Springfield Catholic 1-0 and we didn't know how to react to that one. We lost to Alton, Ill., and we're down 1-0. We got a good push in the last five minutes. The Jackson game that we lost was 2-1 in PKs. There's no sense in two years of how to play from behind."

St. Vincent only had lost eight times since the start of the 2009 state championship season until Thursday's setback. The Indians went 49-8 over that span.

"We're not a team that has to worry about coming back," Wengert said. "We don't worry about practicing it. Maybe that's my fault. We don't worry about going out and showing different formations."

Thursday's loss was only the second conference loss for St. Vincent's seniors since they started high school. And it's something the Perryville players were sure to cherish.

"That's my goal in athletics," Bauwens said about the significance of defeating St. Vincent.