Bode just didn’t know if he hit it too well.
“I didn’t think it was going to drop in time, but it dropped,” Bode said.
Bode’s shot hit off the bottom of the crossbar and over the goal line with 2.3 seconds left in the first half to help the Kahoks to a 3-2 victory over the Edwardsville Tigers in Southwestern Conference action on Tuesday inside the District 7 Complex.
It was the first win for the Kahoks over the Tigers in Edwardsville since Aug. 25, 2008. EHS had won seven straight at home over Collinsville by a combined 19-3.
“This feels really good. We haven’t won here in a long time, so this feels really good,” Bode said.
Collinsville’s win opens up the SWC race.
The Kahoks (7-3-2 overall) lead the league at 5-1, one-half game ahead of the Tigers (10-2-2) and O’Fallon Panthers at 4-1.
“Our record doesn’t show how good of a team we can be or are. For us to do this here against a talented team in a difficult environment, it’s very important for us moving forward,” Collinsville coach Rob Lugge said.
After Edwardsville grabbed a 1-0 lead of Evan Moore’s blast less than two minutes into the game, Collinsville countered with goals from Jaylen Wade in the eighth minute and Landon Mahat in the 25th minute to take a 2-1 lead.
With time running out in the half, the Kahoks capitalized on a foul called just outside the Edwardsville 18-yard box with 20 seconds left.
Bode, to the left of where the free-kick was awarded, called for a pass and blasted a shot from about 25 yards that deflected off the crossbar and across the goal line for his first high school goal and a 3-1 lead.
“There was about 20 seconds left when we got the free-kick and I saw the amount of free space I had. I called for the ball and just took a touch and hit it. I launched it,” Bode said. “It felt good.”
Lugge credited his kids on the field for their awareness with the clock quickly approaching triple zeroes.
“It was big on the boys to notice the time and see it was running out. They played it quick and got the shot off,” Lugge said.
EHS coach Mark Heiderscheid called the goal “unfortunate.”
“They got an unfortunate ball that was put into play and then they whacked it. We just didn’t transition as well,” Heiderscheid said.
Moore cut the deficit to 3-2 with his second of the game and team-leading fifth of the season in the 45th minute. He stole the ball from a Collinsville defender and lined a shot into the goal from the top of the 18-yard box.
The Tigers, though, couldn’t find the equalizer over the final 35 minutes.
“The second half was promising for us. It would have been very easy for us to concede another goal after the first half but we didn’t and we were able to create chances. I thought we played very, very well in the second half,” Heiderscheid said. “We just didn’t get that break we needed to get a goal.”
It was a tough result for the Tigers, who got off to a quick start when Moore scored in the third minute on a shot from the top of the 18-yard box for the 1-0 lead.
Edwardsville nearly went ahead 2-0 moments later but had a shot from a similar spot to Moore’s goal sail just high over the crossbar.
“After we got the first one, we had the momentum and nearly got a second one that we probably should have buried and we didn’t,” Heiderscheid said. “Collinsville then did a great job of moving the ball and they started to get us in transition better during that stage.”
The Kahoks tied it 1-1 on Wade’s fourth goal of the season in the eighth minute.
Wade slipped through the EHS defense and slid a shot through the legs of keeper Nathan Beck to change the momentum of the game.
“That was huge for us,” Lugge said. “As the game progresses, you start to stress out a little. We were getting chances but couldn’t get anything to go in. For Jaylen to step up and put that one in for us, that’s a big goal.”
In the 25th minute, Mahat blasted a shot from 30 yards out just underneath the crossbar to put the Kahoks up 2-1. It was his second of the season.
Bode then put an exclamation point on the half for Collinsville with his goal with 2.3 seconds left.
“It’s been an unfortunate thing we’ve dealt with this year with conceding the first goal and then having to battle... Click here to read full article
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