EDWARDSVILLE – Rodrigo Hernandez-Mendoza scored in a penalty kick shootout to give Collinsville an 8-7 win in the shootout, allowing the Kahoks to escape with a 2-1 win over Edwardsville in the first Southwestern Conference boys soccer match of the season Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium.
Edwardsville scored late in the first half, with Collinsville getting a spectacular equalizer early in the second half, with both teams having opportunities in the remainder of the match and in extra time, leading to the shootout, and the Kahok win.
“Well, never good to go ahead and have a loss,” said Tigers coach Mark Heiderscheid, “especially on PKs, and one that it looked like, for the first time, I was going to see it going back through the top five again, because both keepers made a save. And so, we’re just about at the 10th PK shooter, which meant that you kind of go back to the top of the order, so, this one looked like it was never going to end. But unfortunate for the young man, hitting over it, those things happen in PK shootouts. It’s just kind of one of those things.
“Otherwise, I said, for them, you should be disappointed. Any loss, even in PKs, when it goes to nine kickers, it’s gonna be rough. But I think there were elements of the game that we moved the ball very well. I thought Collinsville played exceptionally well, I think their guys moved the ball effectively, I thought they had some guys, their dribbling ability to go at players was quite good, they were very, very physical, and so, they made it challenging for us.”
For the Kahoks’ part it was their fifth win in a row at Edwardsville’s home ground, which is often time a very difficult place for opponents to play at.
“We feel good,” said Collinsville head coach Rob Lugge. “The boys worked hard, it wasn’t a very pretty game on our end, but they fought for every inch they could take, and we were fortunate enough to make one more PK than they did.”
Heiderschied said his squad had large moments where we possessed the ball.
The coach continued, “swung it side-by-side. And so, In terms of us possessing it and making the game look attractive, we did that, I think at the time, very, very, very well. And then, I think in the second half, we just had like, three or four very good chances. They weren’t superbly clear cut, but they were very good chances, that we put in some good crosses, and that Majd (Hamad) was on the back post on the one, and just didn’t’ quite get the finishing touch, and he’s inside the box, I think Henry (Vivian) might have been the one that whistled the cross. And then, we had a couple of other ones, Lincoln (Alwardt) had the ball out here about the 30, right in front of our bench, and just whipped a good cross, and again, just didn’t quite make the right connection. So, any one of those could have put away the game. But for some reason tonight, it did not.
“I thought we played many parts of the game very well. Defending, they were very challenging to defend; I thought our guys did well. We gave away one at the ball, they pulled it into the net, but, a phenomenal strike. But otherwise, I thought we were very composed, like I said, I thought we connected it very decently, and I think we’ll continue to try to get that aspect of the game even better, and I think as the season wears down, we’ll continue seeing putting away out chances, too.”
It not always an easy way to win a match, but it’s a very tough way to lose in a close match with much on the line.
“Yeah, it’s an awful way to lose,” Lugge said. “I do feel bad for the Edwardsville boys. They played well, they take possession a lot, they dictated the game, but we were able to just battle through it. We just do what we could, we got a goal, and defended well after that.”
The first 15 minutes were mostly a feeling-out process by both sides, with both sides having some outstanding chances las the half wore on. At one point, the Tigers had four consecutive corners, but failed to connect on each one.
In the 38rh minute, Hamad sent a lovely cross into the box, where Vivian headed it in brilliantly for his fifth goal of the season, putting Edwardsville into the front at 1-0. The goal came as a result of some good work by Hamad to put the ball into the box, helping Edwardsville gain the halftime lead.
It didn’t last all that long, as in the 43rd minute, Chris Munoz intercepted a ball, took two strides, and sizzled a shot from distance that beat the Tiger keeper to the far post and into the net, giving Collinsville a 1-1 tie. The two sides had good opportunities the rest of regulation, but the winning goal never came, forcing extra time, The two teams failed to produce a winner in extra time, despite goo play on both sides, forcing the penalty shootout.
In the shootout, both teams scored on their first three shots, with Ty Starko scoring to make it 4-3, and Jack Kirgan was stopped on his attempt, giving the Kahoks the chance to win. Giovanni Mann was stopped on his attempt, while Vivian scored on his shot in the final round, tying the shootout 4-4 and forcing sudden death.
Both teams scored on their next three tries, with Hernandez-Mendoza hitting it to make it 8-7 in the shootout, The Edwardsville shooter sent his attempt over the top, giving the Kahoks the win and the three points.
Collinsville is now 1-0-1, and plays at Belleville West on Thursday, while Edwardsville goes to 3-2-0 and hosts Alton, also on Thursday. The kickoffs are set for 6:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
