EDWARDSVILLE - Ian Schilling scored the only goal of the match off a scramble from a corner kick with 5.8 seconds left in the second half of extra time to give O'Fallon a stunning 1-0 win over Edwardsville in the IHSA Class 3A boys soccer regional final Saturday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.

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The winning goal came from a corner kick Jake Schildknecht shortly after the Tigers hit the upper post on a glorious chance in the 99th minute and was cleared away.

It was a rubber match between the two Southwestern Conference teams that didn't lack for excitement or drama as the Tigers and Panthers looked to advance to the Collinsville sectional this coming week.

"Well, it certainly didn't lack for tactics and drama and that," said Edwardsville head coach Mark Heiderscheid. "We tried to go ahead and work the ball, and connect it, and tried to create chances. At the very end, we had that, and unfortunately, ours just happened to hit off the post and didn't go in, and that would have ended it right there. And then, O'Fallon tried to see if they could catch us on a mistake. We drew numbers back, and then, just tried to counter, which is a good tactic, I think, honestly, against us. And then, I think with that, they, at the end, we're able to get the one free kick, and they got in there on basically a scrum inside the box, with all the bodies in there. Unfortunately, with that many bodies, everything, eventually, people all dropping down in the box, it fell for them and they scored the goal and that was that."

The Tigers did have a wonderful effort throughout the 100 minutes, but couldn't put the ball into the net as Panther goalkeeper Ben Eckell occasionally came up with some good saves to keep the Tigers off the scoresheet.

"Yeah, it was," Heiderscheid said. "We tried to orchestrate, we just didn't have enough to get that really good strike or that final finish on the goal, or I think it would have been ours. We really did not concede very many shots, dealt with the long balls, dealt with some clobbering balls forward I think pretty well. We dealt with the long throw-ins, I thought, decently effective in the corners. But there, I always thought O'Fallon was going to be dangerous on just smacking balls forward, and that's just really hard to play against. But eventually, that was their forte, and they were able to get a ball in the box, get everyone in there and they were able to go ahead and knock it in, and that's that."

Wyatt Erber in particular had some good opportunists in the match, including sending the ball into the O'Fallon box, where a header just hit off the woodwork deep into the second half of extra time.

"And that's unfortunate in the sport of soccer," Heiderscheid said. "I mean, it's like all of a sudden, you just happen to finish that one chance, you're a victor. If you don't it all comes back to haunt you. In this case, with us not finishing that chance, then at the very end, with seconds left, is like that, just one of those things. So it's just is what it is at this point."

Both sides spent the first few minutes feeling each other out, with play mostly set in the middle third. The Panthers had somewhat a bit better of the play early on, having some decent looks at the goal, but not being able to score. In the 22nd minute, the Tigers had their first good chance off a corner, but the chance never came. Both Eckell and Edwardsville goalie Nathan Beck made a couple of good saves each to keep things goalless as the half went along.

Just before the end, an Edwardsville player was shown the yellow card by the referee for a hard foul, and seconds later Chris Agwuedo was booked for another hard foul, but O'Fallon couldn't take advantage of the free kicks. leaving both sides goalless at the interval.

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Play picked up somewhat at the start of the second half, as O'Fallon's Seth McKinzie was booked for a hard foul in the 47th minute, and right soon after that, Erber made a nifty tackle and fed Evan Moore, who was brought down on the breakaway, resulting in a free kick for the Tigers, but nothing became of the shot, keeping the match 0-0.

In the 59th minute, Erber had a big chance when Eckell miskicked the ball, but the ball was knocked away by the O'Fallon defense. Late in regulation, both teams picked up the pace in order to try and get the winner, with Beck recovering quickly to stop an errant back pass in the 69th minute, and later on, in the 77th minute, a great crossing pass to an unmarked Tigers' player just failed to click. leaving the match 0-0 as the final siren went off, forcing extra time.

Extra time is divided into two 10-minute halves, and for the first time in the IHSA, there's no sudden death golden goal, but the entire extra time is played. In the 85th minute, a Panther player got off a great shot that just went past the far post, and in the 90th minute, Erber had a great chance that was stopped at the defense that kept the match scoreless going into the second half of extra time. In the 95th minute, Edwardsville's Ben Mathews was booked for a hard clash with Eckell in the box, but undeterred, Mathews tried a nice chip from distance, but the shot went over the bar.

In the 99th minute, the Tigers had the opportunity to win it when Erber sent across a gorgeous free kick that was just headed off the top of the post, keeping the match scoreless. The Panthers countered after the missed opportunity, and won a crone in the 100th minute, starting with Schildknecht sending a perfect cross into the box, where a mad scramble began, but the ball found Schilling, who hit it into the back of the net in the dying seconds, sending the Panthers and their supporters wild with delight. The referee conferred with his assistants and eventually gave the goal. A desperation shot off the restart was nowhere near the goal as the Panthers took the win to advance.

O'Fallon is now 13-6-0 and moves on to the Collinsville sectional semifinals Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., where the Panthers will play the Kahoks, a 2-0 winner over Belleville East in the Alton regional final Saturday evening at Public School Stadium. The winner will play against the winner of Minooka and Moline, who will also play Tuesday evening at Joliet West High in a 5 p.m. kickoff, on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Kahok Stadium.

The Tigers were eliminated with a 15-4-3 record, but Edwardsville had a good season. with much to be proud of.

"We had a good season,' Heiderscheid said. "I think as far as the program, it just continues to be good. We don't have many seasons that are down years, and that's just a great reflection of the players that we have, that each year, they bring together a very respected team. This year, like a few others, we weren't able to go ahead, start constructing any wins early, and that's just the way it ts."

And there's also plenty to look forward to in 2022 as well.

"Yep. I think we'll have a really good core of players back," Heiderscheid said, "and I think we certainly have a good thing looking forward."

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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