GRANITE CITY – Anyone who's been on either side of a penalty-kick shootout that decided a soccer match can tell you how difficult it can be.
That's exactly what Friday evening's IHSA Class 3A Granite City Regional final came down to after Edwardsville and Collinsville battled to a 1-1 draw through regular time and then extra time when a winner couldn't be determined.
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The Tigers missed their final two attempts in the shootout and the Kahoks connected on all four of their tries to take a 4-2 win in the shootout to advance to next week's Peoria Notre Dame Sectional; Collinsville will face the winner of the O'Fallon Regional, either Quincy or O'Fallon, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Belleville West. The sectional final will be played at 7 p.m. Oct. 28, with the winner moving to a supersectional match at a site and time to be determined Nov. 1.
“It is what it is,” said Edwardsville coach Mark Heiderscheid. “We practice it, but in this case, it just didn't happen. We had guys who uncharacteristically missed, but that's the way is was in that one.”
“To compete for 100 minutes with a team as strong as Edwardsville is, and as deep, that's a proud, proud moment for my program,” said Kahok coach Clay Smith. “We haven't gotten this far in awhile; I'm just so happy for these senior guys – and I'm not taking anything away from Edwardsville, and I know they're a hard-working team – but these boys worked day in and day out and I'm not sure a lot of people gave us a shot in this game after we took a 4-0 beating against them the first time
“To come out and be the aggressor and get the early goal is remarkable, and man, Mark is a veteran and great coach, and their adjustments at halftime were great. The way they came out and applied pressure – I knew it was going to take everything we had to withstand it, and they get that goal – another five minutes and that game goes either way; I mean, that's two great teams playing soccer out there and that's what it's all about in the postseason and the Southwestern Conference.”
Collinsville got the important first goal of the match in the 38th minute when Sabas Avalos gained possession near midfield and charged to the Edwardsville goal, where his shot beat Tiger goalkeeper Daniel Picchiotti to put the Kahoks ahead.
The Tigers nearly scored twice in the early stages of the second half but saw both efforts bounce off the goalpost. The score remained where it was until the 72nd minute when Zach Timmerman got a shot past Kahok netminder Brent Niedzwiecki to level the scores and force extra time. Neither side could mount a scoring chance in the two 10-minute sessions, sending the match into a shootout.
Mohammad Hamad and Kyle Wright scored on their attempts for the Tigers while Josh Wobbe and Jordan Blasingame found the back of the net on their attempts. Michael Picchiotti bounced his shot off the crossbar in the third round of the shootout while Brendan Peterson scored to put the Kahoks ahead in the shootout. Niedzwiecki turned back Alec Mills on his attempt and Zach Cawvey scored on his try to bring the shootout to an end.
The Tigers were eliminated at 14-2-5, while the Kahoks advanced with a 11-7-2 record.
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