It wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty for the Kickapoo Chiefs soccer team. To a man, they will tell you that what played out Wednesday night against rival Glendale was an eyesore.
But …
“I think it showed we are ready to grind games out. I think when we aren’t having our ‘on game,’ we are willing to put the work in,” Kickapoo senior Cole Johnson said. “The first half was ugly. We’ll admit that.”’
Perhaps, then, Kickapoo earned some stripes, so to speak, after beating Glendale 3-0 at Lowe Stadium. The Chiefs fended off 21 Falcons first-half possessions across midfield, only to score twice in the final 3:09 before halftime – the first off Mitch Closser’s sideline pass that was knocked in by Cole Johnson — and then seized control right after halftime on a Johnson breakaway goal.
With it, the Chiefs not only improved to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the Ozark Conference but arguably looked the part of a stalwart ready to challenge anyone in southwest Missouri.
In essence, they found a way to win against a rival. At the rival’s place.
“We’re still trying to maybe figure out exactly who we are,” Kickapoo coach Phil Hodge said. “We’ve got guys who can find a way to score. I don’t think we are going to keep possession like we have in the past but we’re going to find a way to scratch a goal or two. We defended really well. They probably had, what, 20 corner (kicks)?”
Hodge later added, “If we can keep people from scoring and just have someone scratch out a goal, we’ll go with that all year.”
Truth is, when it comes to special seasons, you need some magic. Kickapoo found some of it late in the first half, surviving one Glendale threat after another. Suddenly, the Chiefs led 2-0 by halftime.
The first goal was off an in-bounds pass from the senior Closser, a 6-foot-5 basketball player whose throw rainbowed over a set of defenders and appeared to ricochet off an opposing player and into the net. Jaxon Riddle was credited for the goal.
“They definitely had us pinned in that first part of the game,” Closser said. “We just needed that one break.”
Riddle, a sophomore, scored on a breakaway in the 39th minute off a feed from Johnson.
“He broke through in the midfield. He didn’t have much defenders and there was a gap in between the two centerbacks and slotted through,” Riddle said. “And I ran on.”
Overall, it was a tough way to go for Glendale, which fell to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the Ozark Conference.
The Falcons lost senior captain Aaron Guilliams to an ankle sprain in the second half, had another player being tested for a possible concussion and welcomed back senior Josh Call, who was playing despite a broken rib and missed recent practices.
That was all according to Glendale coach Jeff Rogers, who appreciated his team’s grit.
“It’s a cruel game. That’s what I told the kids,” Rogers said. “We created a lot of opportunities and just didn’t finish and Kickapoo did. The score sounds like we were never in it. … But we kept them under pressure.”
Glendale will look back at what might have been after coming away empty on numerous first-half possessions, partially because Kickapoo would crowd the ball handler and then string out its defense wide.
The near-misses started innocently enough. Alex Locke twice in the first 19 minutes, with one traveling just over the cross bar of Kickapoo’s goal, and then Mason McDonald, Thomas Spence and Ganner Patterson all took aim halfway through the opening half. Still nothing.
With 4:21 left before halftime, a Glendale player got a yellow card. And not long after, Kickapoo delivered a whiplash.
After halftime, Glendale’s best opportunity to strike came with 11:08 remaining, with play drawing Kickapoo goalkeeper Jacob Holman to his right. But Kickapoo’s Tyler Shrum made a kick-save.
“We possessed really well the first half and created our chances,” Call said. “But you give up one or two goals, it’s hard to get back in the game. We never got momentum. But it’s something to learn from. It’s tough, especially against Kickapoo.”
It needs to be a learning lesson, Rogers said.
“I told the kids, I’d rather learn these lessons now than in October and November,” Rogers said. “This was a good game for us. It was hard to find fault in the way we played. Kickapoo played to their strengths tonight.”
