EDWARDSVILLE – A goal by freshman Bryson Bode in the dying seconds of the first half proved to be the difference as Collinsville won at Edwardsville 3-2 in a Southwestern Conference boys soccer match Tuesday evening at Tiger Stadium.
Bode’s 40th minute goal was the climax of a period where the Kahoks were able to take control of the game from the Tigers.
“We scored off a great shot by Evan Moore,” said Edwardsville head coach Mark Heiderscheid, describing the first of two goals on the night from Moore after two minutes. “He hit a cracker of a shot to score early, and at that juncture of the game, we moved the ball exceptionally well. And at that point, we were really in control of the game. And then as well, we had a great chance to get a second one, but we just happened to miss it.”
It helped give Collinsville an opportunity to equalize, which they did in the eighth minute off a counterattack as Jaylen Wade brought the Kahoks back level at 1-1.
“The game turned because Collinsville caught us on a great counter,” Heiderscheid said, “and they scored to draw level. Then Collinsville did a much better job of winning balls in the midfield, and to their own right, started to take over the game.”
A goal by Landon Mahat in the 25th minute gave the Kahoks the lead for good at 2-1, but the biggest goal of the game came right before halftime off a free kick outside of the box. Bode took the shot that seemed to hang in the air for the longest time before it landed in the back of the net to give Collinsville a 3-1 lead at the interval.
“They ended up scoring a second goal where we just checked out,” Heiderscheid said, “and then in the 40th minute, they end up on a free kick, they got a shot off, and it floated into the net. At 3-1, that’s a mountain, because we had the game and the play we needed, but Collinsville did a good job of controlling the game for three goals.”
The Tigers came back from the break to take charge again, getting Moore’s second goal five minutes into the second half, but it would be as close as the Tigers would get, Heiderscheid felt his side did a much better job of taking back control, and pressed hard for an equalizer, but it never came.
“Halftime, we looked to go ahead and settle the game down,” Heiderscheid said, “so our job was to settle the game down and make adjustments. To that end, we were able to play an effective second half. We scored early to make it 3-2, but Collinsville, I thought, was very gritty. So as well as we played in the second half, it was very challenging to break their wall. We had a couple of good opportunities, but couldn’t break them down.”
The Tigers are now 10-2-2 on the season and host Alton on Thursday night in a 6:30 p.m. start. then host O’Fallon on Friday night in a rescheduled game postponed due to thunderstorms, with the kickoff set for 5:15 p.m.
“We’ll just get ready to play Alton and see what we can do,” Heiderscheid said.
