Pekin 3, Lincoln 0; Normal West 2, Pekin 0

PEKIN, Ill. -
For the first time in the three-year history of the Lady Dragons Invitational, the Pekin girls soccer team lost a game.
But coach Edgar Sandoval wasn’t singing the blues after the Lady Dragons fell 2-0 Saturday to Normal West at Coal Miners Park.
“I’m happier about how we played in this game than in our previous three games, which we won,” Sandoval said.
After giving up two goals to Normal West within 1:01 just past the midway point of the first half, Pekin (9-3-1) had last season’s third-place finisher in the Class AA state finals reeling most of the remainder of the game.
The Lady Dragons didn’t allow a shot in the second half. They won the majority of the 50/50 balls, and had the Lady Wildcats (9-2-2) resorting to hard fouls and even grabbing a jersey to keep Pekin off stride.
Normal West goalie Erin McGinnis played a strong game. She made five saves.
“We lost our marks on their goals and we couldn’t finish on a couple of occasions, but other than that, we played very well,” Sandoval said. “We had six freshmen in the game at one point in the second half. That ought to scare some people.”
Normal West’s Katherine Riggins got behind the Pekin defense and scored with 19:07 to go in the first half, and Jordan Becker headed in a cross from Veronica Klein to make it 2-0.
Pekin goalie Morgan Lynn didn’t have much of a chance on either shot.
Sandoval added Normal West to the invitational field this year to give his young but talented team a test. That’s what it got Saturday.
“If all I cared about was winning, I would have kept the invitational the same,” Sandoval said. “Our girls need to be challenged.”
Pekin hadn’t been challenged in its first eight invitational games, dating to 2007. The Lady Dragons won all eight, outscoring their opponents 30-0.
Both Pekin and Normal West were undefeated in the two-day, four-team round-robin competition heading into their showdown.
The Lady Dragons beat Peoria Christian 2-0 and Lincoln 3-0. Normal West blanked Lincoln 3-0 and Peoria Christian 5-0.
Sarah Zuercher scored one goal and assisted on goals by Lauren Cash and Shawna Swisher in Pekin’s victory over Lincoln (2-10) earlier Saturday. Marissa McGurr assisted on Zuercher’s goal.
Pekin outshot Lincoln 14-2. Lynn and Lindsay Coffey shared the shutout.
The victory moved the Lady Dragons seven games above the .500 mark for the first time in the program’s 12-year history.
Peoria Christian (7-4), another first-year invitational team, defeated Lincoln 3-0 in the other game Saturday. The final invitational standings were Normal West 3-0, Pekin 2-1, Peoria Christian 1-2 and Lincoln 0-3.