Peoria Christian tops Galesburg in tennis, 8-1
Peoria Christian swept singles play and defeated Galesburg 8-1 in a boys tennis dual April 16 at Galesburg.
The Silver Streaks’ lone victory came at No. 3 doubles, where Charlie Hayden and Timothy Tudengjiacuo outlasted Simon Mann and Elliot Marchand 7-6, 6-4.
Peoria Christian won all six singles flights in straight sets. At No. 1 singles, Ian Durst beat Carter Bohm 6-2, 6-1. Samuel Loeb topped Carson Stecher 6-3, 6-0 at No. 2, and Eli Sanderson defeated Charlie Hayden 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3.
Peoria Christian added singles wins at Nos. 4-6 and swept doubles in straight sets.
Inclement weather has slowed the Silver Streaks’ start. Galesburg opened the season with losses to Morton and Dixon. Matches at the Rock Island Invite were canceled, and Thursday’s dual against Peoria Christian was rescheduled twice.
Galesburg coach Adyson Eastburg said the Silver Streaks are working through a season with a largely rebuilt lineup after heavy graduation losses from last year’s team. She said the varsity group includes several beginners along with a few returning players who have moved up from junior varsity.
Eastburg said she has been encouraged by the team’s development despite the lack of victories so far.
“I feel like this year it’s been nice to see how much improvement has been happening in such a short amount of time,” Eastburg said. “Even though we haven’t had any wins yet, it’s just been nice to see them trying as hard as they can with the little experience that they do have.”
Eastburg said senior Mahmoud Shehata has led the lineup at No. 1, while several newer players have continued to gain experience as the season progresses. Overall, the team has 25 players.
The Silver Streaks open Western Big 6 Conference play at 4 p.m. April 20 at Geneseo and at 4 p.m. April 22 at Moline. Galesburg then hosts the Streaks Invitational at 8:30 a.m. April 25 at the Art Fish Courts.
Defense holds, but Galesburg offense can’t break through in soccer tie
Galesburg controlled possession but couldn’t capitalize in a 0-0 nonconference tie with Monmouth-Roseville on April 16 at CBI Bank & Trust Stadium.
Galesburg finished with five shots on goal, while Monmouth-Roseville did not record a shot on goal. Coach Jessica Jones said the result was frustrating because Galesburg was unable to turn its passing into enough quality scoring chances.
“Not the result we wanted,” Jones said. “Monmouth played a great game, held us back, and we didn’t get our scoring opportunities like we would have liked to.”
Jones said Galesburg spent much of the match in the Titans’ end but was below its usual standard in the attacking third. She said the team planned to emphasize shooting in practice before its next conference match April 21.
Despite the scoreless draw, Jones pointed to another shutout — the team’s eighth in 11 matches — as a positive.
“It is always nice when our keepers can keep a clean sheet,” Jones said. “Our defense continues to show up. They’ve shown up every game.”
Midfielder Addison McCurry said Galesburg created plenty of action through its forwards and midfielders and kept Monmouth-Roseville from generating much offense.
“I would say we were up there pretty often,” McCurry said of playing in the Titans’ territory.
McCurry credited Galesburg’s defense for moving the ball forward and said the team’s biggest issue was failing to connect passes consistently enough to create better scoring sequences. She also praised Monmouth-Roseville’s defensive effort.
For her part, McCurry said she tried to stay wide, receive passes and find open teammates.
“I tried to take as many passes as I could, find open players and give us those good strings of passing that we needed,” she said.
The tie moved Galesburg to 7-3-1, while Monmouth-Roseville is now 1-6-1. The Silver Streaks’ next two games are Western Big 6 Conference matches: a 6 p.m. match April 21 at Quincy and a 6 p.m. home match April 28 against Rock Island.
Alleman uses two big innings to get past GHS softball
Alleman scored seven runs in the second and third innings and defeated Galesburg 7-0 in a Western Big 6 Conference softball game April 16 in Galesburg.
The Pioneers broke the game open with four runs in the second inning and added three more in the third. Alleman finished with nine hits, while Galesburg was held to four.
Taylor Lee had Galesburg’s only extra-base hit, finishing 1 for 1 with a double and two walks. Evelin Guel, Hannah Barton and Mary Moore each added a hit for the Silver Streaks.
Lee also pitched all seven innings for Galesburg, allowing nine hits and seven runs, five earned, with two walks and two strikeouts.
Galesburg struck out seven times, left five runners on base and committed one error. Alleman also had one error.
The loss dropped Galesburg to 3-13 overall and 0-6 in conference play. Alleman improved to 10-4 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
The Streaks are at Dunlap for a 10 a.m. game April 18. They host WB6 rival Rock Island at 4:30 p.m. April 21.
Wake, Hoosen lead Sandburg men at Deere Hawk Classic
Tanner Wake and Kenny Hoosen each turned in rounds in the 70s as the Sandburg men’s golf team competed in the Deere Hawk Classic on Thursday at TPC Deere Run.
Wake, coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes in the Chargers’ last two tournaments, shot a 2-over-par 72 to tie for 12th. Starting on the 10th hole, Wake played his opening nine at even par, including a birdie on the par-5 17th. He added another birdie on the par-3 fourth hole while shooting 36 on the front nine.
Hoosen shot 77 to tie for 37th. The sophomore from East Peoria carded a birdie on the par-4 sixth and finished with 10 pars. Blake Harvey shot 83 and Tyler Partee added an 84 for the Chargers’ other counting scores.
Sandburg shot 316 and placed 11th. The Chargers finished one shot behind Madison and one ahead of Bryant & Stratton. Heartland shot 283, 3 over par, and won the tournament by seven shots over Black Hawk.
Illinois Central’s Trey Boecker shot a 4-under 66 to earn medalist honors, finishing three strokes ahead of Northeast’s Emilio Lechuga and Black Hawk’s Jack Blackwell.
The tournament was shortened to 18 holes after Wednesday’s scheduled first round at Deer Valley was canceled because of unplayable conditions. The event was the Chargers’ final tuneup before the Region 4 tournament April 26-28 at PrairieView in Byron.
