The Collinsville boys soccer team kicked off to start its Tuesday evening match against defending 3A state champions Edwardsville and took the ball down field quickly.
Senior captain Grant Bauer promptly took a shot that hit off the crossbar and was then cleared away. The chance would prove to be emblematic of the night for the Kahoks (3-2 overall, 1-2 Southwestern Conference), who lost 2-0 to the Tigers (9-1-1 overall, 1-0 SWC).
Head Coach Myles Hensler said, despite the loss, Collinsville can compete with any team.
“It came down tonight to not who was better,” Hensler said. “It came down to who was going to finish their chances and create opportunities off the other team’s mistakes.”
Thanks to consistently pressuring the Tiger defense, the Kahoks did have chances. Along with Bauer’s shot that went off the crossbar, senior Brendan Rosenburg headed a free kick off the right post and out in the 24th minute of the second half.
Hensler said unfortunately, the Kahoks could not put their chances away while Edwardsville did.
“I think the team had a great effort,” Hensler said. “I can’t be down on them for their effort.”
In the first half, the teams traded possession of the ball back and forth, but neither could find the back of the net early.
Each team had a corner kick in the first half, as well as several throw ins that were sent into the box.
Edwardsville also had two chances at a breakaway that were stopped by sliding tackles from sophomore Clay Hartman.
In the 30th minute of the first half, Collinsville let the Tigers in behind them. Senior Suleman Bazai received a pass and put in in the back of the net for the game’s first goal.
“That first goal, we kind of lost the ball in the back, and they created some space for Suleman to get in behind and create a shot and made it 1-0,” Hensler said.
As the game wore on, the Kahoks appeared to be getting frustrated. Hensler said while they were doing a good job of connecting passes at the end of the first half, they started taking more risks in the second half.
“We got a little bit more risky, making a few more risky passes and losing it,” Hensler said, “but those are the chances you have to take in order to try to capitalize and go forward to try to get that equalizer.”
Despite the risk taking, Collinsville was able to keep the Tigers from scoring their second goal until they capitalized on a corner in the 76th minute.
Hensler said the Kahoks are still making some mistakes here and there and have some tendencies to fix, but they have plenty of time to correct them.
Collinsville’s next game is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 17, when they travel to Chaminade.
