Kahoks avenge earlier loss to O’Fallon

The Collinsville girls soccer team is living proof that you can learn from your setbacks.

After losing 4-1 to O’Fallon on April 13, the Kahoks corrected many of the mistakes they made in that game and defeated the top-seeded Panthers 2-0 Tuesday in the semifinals of the Class 3A Belleville West Regional.

Coach Ron Rowden’s squad takes an 11-9 record and a No. 4 seed into Friday’s 5 p.m. championship game, where it will meet the winner of Wednesday’s Belleville East-Belleville West game.

“Our starting back four and the subs played under control,” Rowden said. “When they got in a wall, they had a good idea of what they were going to do with it.

“When we won the ball in the back, we made a couple nice outlet passes and that kept O’Fallon from having a consistent attack on us. When we played them on their turf, they were winning second and third balls in our own defensive third and making us look bad.”

“We’re all working as a team and we’re all being more positive,” said Alexis Trybinski, who scored both goals for Collinsville. “We put everything right like we should.”

O’Fallon ended its season at 11-4-2. The Panthers were coming off a 3-0 loss to Edwardsville on May 11. If they had won that game, they would have tied Granite City for the Southwestern Conference title.

“I thought we played really well against Edwardsville and they took advantage of their chances,” said O’Fallon coach Craig Dippel. “Today I didn’t think we played our best at all.

“Collinsville was definitely the better team. They possessed the ball well and they had us running around defensively.
“We had our chances in the first half and a couple in the second, but it wasn’t how we’ve normally played this year.”

After a scoreless first half, Collinsville took a 1-0 lead with 28:11 remaining in the second half. Trybinski took a pass from Chelsea Smith, slipped past the O’Fallon defense, and hit a right-footed shot into the upper left corner of the net to beat Panthers goalkeeper Hanna Poteet.

“Chelsea Smith played outstanding at center mid, but it was a team effort,” said Rowden, whose team finished 1-5 in the SWC. “We scouted O’Fallon and I thought all parts of our game looked very good today.”

“We caught ball-watching a little bit,” Dippel said. “(Trybinski) is a great player and she’s got tremendous speed and they were able to find her.”

Collinsville scored again with 11:11 to play in the game. Madalan O’Leary stole the ball from an O’Fallon defender and made a crossing pass to Trybinski, who beat Poteet from point-blank range on the left side of the net.

“That’s what we need out of her – good senior leadership,” Rowden said of Trybinski. “She was one of our award winners for offensive player of the year and she can hit a pure shot. She put herself in position to score and she did it nice.

“Maddy O’Leary also played outstanding in the back and midfield today.”

“We had some nice passes today,” Trybinski said. “I’ve been pretty unlucky this season, but now our offense is clicking and we’re getting something out of all of our hard work.”

O’Fallon’s best scoring chance came with 7:47 remaining, as Jessie York blasted the ball off the crossbar.  But the Panthers couldn’t get the rebound and Collinsville goalie Tayler Pulvirenti went on to record the shutout.

With 2:50 left, Trybinski nearly got the hat trick, but her shot bounced off the crossbar.

“Sometimes this season our worst enemy was ourselves,” Rowden said. “We would give up a goal or two and quit playing. But I like the drive and the attitude of our players. We had a purpose – we weren’t satisfied to come here and just play.”

O’Fallon, meanwhile, was left to ponder a first-round playoff exit after a superb regular season.

“Our youth showed a little bit today,” Dippel said. “We’ve got a lot of young kids and maybe that played a part in it. Mentally we weren’t as ready as we probably should have been and that falls on me as far as getting them focused.

“We had a good week of practice leading up to this, but we didn’t play last Thursday (a rainout against Nerinx Hall) and maybe the longer layoff hurt us a little bit.”