COLLINSVILLE – Edwardsville's boys soccer team came into Tuesday evening's Southwestern Conference showdown with Collinsville with a good deal of momentum.
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The Tigers were were riding into the match on a roll, having recorded three clean sheets on their way to winning the Morton Invitational tournament last weekend over three tough Chicago-area schools.
Collinsville's Lui DeAnda, in fact, almost single-handedly brought the Tigers down Tuesday with a hat trick as the Kahoks handed EHS its first loss of the season, a 3-1 decision at Kahok Stadium.
The Tigers knew the Kahoks were very good finishers on their chances, and they didn't miss on many of them. “We knew they were good finishers,” said Tiger coach Mark Heiderschied. “They do what they do. They had a good first strike of the ball (down the field) and they found a channel, brought it in and scored.”
Heiderschied praised his team's effort despite falling behind. “We kept working hard and kept playing,” Heiderschied said. “Getting the goal we got (from Alec Mills) was important.:
The fact that the Tigers entered the game having beaten the Kahoks three straight times was a key for CHS coach Clay Smith. “Edwardsville-Collinsville is always a big game,” Smith said. “We haven't had a lot of success against them recently, but I was happy with the intensity we showed tonight.”
DeAnda's first goal seemed to be a bit of a surprise to Smith. “We were getting outplayed early,” Smith said, “but they made a mistake and we countered quickly and created an opportunity.
“I'm happy for (DeAnda).”
DeAnda's second goal was somewhat similar to his goal; DeAnda came in on a counter after gaining possession and fired a drive past Tiger goalkeeper Trey Riley in the 27th minute to put Collinsville up 2-0, which is where is stood at halftime.
DeAnda sealed the match in the 43rd minute when he took a pass from Zachary Stenger and put it past Riley to put the Kahoks up 3-0. Edwardsville refused to go away, however, and got a goal from Mills in the 77th minute to spoil Brett Niedzwicki's bid for a clean sheet.
The loss put Edwardsville at 8-1-3 on the season, 2-1-1 in the SWC; Collinsville took its mark to 7-1 overall, 3-0 in the league. The Tigers will return to the pitch for a Saturday afternoon tilt against Dunlap at SIU-Edwardsville's Korte Stadium.
