ALTON - It was a night that Alton High sophomore forward Dillan Cowan will remember for the rest of his life.
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"The kid plays with a ton of enthusiasm. He's got just a ton of passion for this game and it paid off for him tonight," AHS head coach Tyler Hamilton said post-game about Dillan.
He scored a couple of goals Monday night (September 26) against cross-town rival Marquette Catholic High School in a 2-1 victory after penalty kicks. Cowan is an Auto Butler Male Athlete of the Month for the Redbirds.
He broke the game open in the 54th minute when he ran onto a through ball with only the keeper to beat. He slotted it home to take the lead in front of probably 400-plus fans at Public School Stadium.
Marquette eventually tied the game back up forcing overtime. Except the teams skipped OT and went straight for penalty kicks.
When Cowan stepped up to his spot-kick it was simple. If he scored, they won.
He did just that putting the ball into the back of the net past the diving keeper.
He sent the large AHS student section into a frenzy as they stormed the field to celebrate with Cowan and his team.
Postgame Cowan said he wasn't very nervous about taking the deciding penalty.
After the game, he mentioned that he has a lot of friends on the Marquette team and that he's known a lot of these players for a long time. He called it "the battle of the brothers."
The win snaps a six-game losing streak for Alton and moves them to 5-8 on the season.
He was full of confidence after the win saying that now it is time to beat the likes of Collinsville and O'Fallon.
He believes his Redbirds are the underdog story.
The Redbirds have five straight away games and won't be back at home until October 10 when they take on Highland. They'll get another shot at Collinsville and O'Fallon before the end of the season and Dillan is ready for it.
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