Kahoks Wrap Up Spring Soccer Season
By Mark Jurgena
Everything about COVID-19 has been unusual and the boys soccer season is certainly no exception. One week after winning a share of the Southwestern Conference title, Collinsville embarked on a four-game non-conference slate to end the season.
The newly crowned SWC co-champs took everyone’s best shot and finished their last week at 2-2.
On April 12th they traveled to Columbia to face the Eagles. They came back with a 4-1 loss.
“Columbia… they’re talented,” said coach Rob Lugge. “They’ve got two kids, Karson Bridges and Jonah James, those kids can score. They attack really well and they attack as a team. We struggled defensively on corners and dead balls. They scored three goals on corner kicks and throw-ins. Typically we are a little stronger in that area.”
Bridges and James combined to score 31 goals for the Eagles in the spring of 2021 in just 11 games.
Sam Garofalo scored the lone goal for Collinsville.
Columbia finished the year with a 10-1 mark.
April 15th saw them square off with Granite City on senior night at Kahok Stadium. The purple and white faithful were not disappointed as they beat the Warriors 2-0.
“It’s always a good night when you can celebrate your seniors and get a win,” Lugge said. “Granite City… we seem to get everybody’s best shot. They came out to play. They put pressure on us but we were able to maintain. The boys, they played simple, they played fast.”
Yahir Figueroa and Adam Reiniger scored the two goals for the Kahoks.
The next night they traveled to Glen Carbon to face small-school power, Father McGivney. They returned with a 2-0 victory.
“Father McGivney, they were disciplined, they were hard-working, they came to play,” Lugge said. “Playing on their grass field, it took a while to adjust, but once we started to figure it out, we don’t play on grass very often, the ball started to move and we created chances.”
Reiniger and Alex Lorsbach got the two goals for Collinsville.
Carter Wagner and Miguel Gaspar combined for the shutout for CHS.
Their final game of the season was April 17th at home against Alton Marquette. The Kahoks fell in that matchup 2-1.
“It was a good game, Alton Marquette came to play,” said Lugge. “For us being the last game of the year where there’s no playoffs my goal is to get people in. Guys who sat on the bench and were good teammates all year and get them some playing time. We were able to do that.”
The Kahoks found themselves deadlocked in a 0-0 tie at the half. However, just :10 into the 2nd half, they got on the board courtesy of a Jimmy Crowder goal.
But Marquette tied it on a PK and later the game-winner from 30 yards out.
Kahok Notes: Collinsville split the SWC crown with Edwardsville. CHS finished the year with a 14-4 overall record.
