EDWARDSVILLE – O’Fallon won the Edwardsville Sectional championship Friday night, defeating Moline 2-1 after advancing past Edwardsville on Tuesday in a semifinal decided by a penalty shootout.
The second-seeded Panthers beat top-seeded Edwardsville 1-0 in the semifinal before facing top-seeded Moline for the sectional title.
After the semifinal, O’Fallon coach Chris Kazmierczak said his team’s ability to handle the pressure of the shootout made the difference.
“Soccer can be a cruel sport sometimes,” Kazmierczak said. “It just comes down to that pressure moment, and which team can adapt and take the pressure. Our team was that team.”
Kazmierczak praised Edwardsville and said he had expected a close contest between teams with similar styles.
“As we know, Edwardsville has a great team this year,” Kazmierczak said, “they have a great program, so they have a great team every year. We knew that we had some very similar styles, we knew that the game was going to be very, very tight, whether is was 1-1 or 0-0, so we definitely anticipated going into penalty kicks.”
The semifinal victory sent O’Fallon into the round of 16, a milestone Kazmierczak described as a step forward for the program.
“It’s been a long time since O’Fallon has gotten this far,” Kazmierczak said, “so as I told the boys, this is turning a corner, we’re building a new era, and now, we’re going to move forward and we’re going to have some success.”
Moline was a familiar opponent heading into Friday’s championship. The teams had played to a scoreless draw earlier in the season and also met in a summer friendly.
“Well, we’ve played Moline before,” Kazmierczak said before the final. “Early in the season it was 0-0. We played them also in the summer, for a friendly, so we know how they play. They have two very strong forwards, and we anticipate prepping the boys, and doing what we do.”
Following the semifinal, Kazmierczak also credited his players’ work and commitment.
“I just wanted to say how tremendously proud I am of our boys,” he said.
