BELLEVILLE - Ben Lovell and Trenton Liedtke both scored in the first half, and a very tight Edwardsville defense stopped Collinsville at every turn as the Tigers defeated the Kahoks 3-0 to win the IHSA Class 3A Belleville West regional Friday night at Bob Goalby Field.
The win advanced Edwardsville to the sectional, which they are hosting this season, and into a Tuesday semifinal date against the winner of the O'Fallon regional, which will be played Saturday evening at OTHS Panther Stadium.
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The game was a rematch of last year's regional final at Kahok Stadium in Collinsville, won by the Kahoks 1-0 on a last-second goal.
The Tigers went ahead on the quarter hour, when Lovell hit a shot from distance that beat the Collinsville goalkeeper and straight into the back of the net to give Edwardsville a 1-0 lead. The Tigers doubled it in the 27th minute when Liedtke scored off a loose ball in front of goal during a scramble to make it 2-0, which is where the lead stood at the interval.
A suffocating Edwardsville defense did the rest of the job, not allowing a quality chance by the Kahoks to try to get back into the game. It helped create a chance for Owen Chitwood, who scored in right before full time from close in to make the final score 3-0, giving the Tigers the regional crown.
Edwardsville goalie Eli Kennedy was credited with the clean sheet in the shutout.
The Kahoks ended their season at 9-14-1, while the Tigers are now 13-8-1, and advance to their sectional at Tiger Stadium, where they'll meet the winner of the O'Fallon regional, either the host Panthers or Normal Community, Tuesday evening at 5 p.m., with the winner going to the Round of 16 against the winner of the match between the winners of the Rock Island and Joliet West regionals, The sectional final is set for next Friday at 5 p.m.
The Edwardsville winner plays the Aurora East winner in the Normal Community super-sectional quarterfinal match Nov. 3 at 5 p.m., with the winner going to the state finals Nov. 6-7 at Hoffman Estates High School in northwest suburban Chicagoland.
