Bt Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Vegard Wilhelmsen will have some stories to tell when he goes back to Norway. Particularly, how he spent Halloween night 2017.
The foreign exchange student scored both of Kickapoo’s goals in the Chiefs’ 2-1 sectional win over Nixa on Tuesday night. Wilhelmsen entered the match as Kickapoo’s leading goal scorer.
Now, the 6’4” senior forward has the Chiefs on the verge of their third state final four appearance in program history and first since 2007.
“I can’t really describe it. This is so beautiful,” Wilhelmsen said. “This was insane. I was optimistic before the game and we came out on top. It’s amazing. I’m just so happy right now.”
The Chiefs host 26-1 overall Sedalia Smith-Cotton this Saturday afternoon in the Class 4 quarterfinal round.
“I’m happy for these guys,” said Chiefs coach Phil Hodge. “We’ve had so many injuries this year. We just keep throwing guys in spots. To keep performing the way they have, they’ve done a great job.”
Smith-Cotton’s lone blemish is a 5-1 loss to Glendale in the Kickapoo Shootout in late September. Smith-Cotton beat Kickapoo 3-1 in the same tournament.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
The Chiefs will hope for payback this Saturday, much like the revenge they got on Tuesday night. Nixa trounced Kickapoo 8-1 in a regular-season meeting about two months ago.
“All the pressure was on (Nixa) tonight,” said Kickapoo senior defender Zac Salyers, who had a key clearance late in the match to preserve Kickapoo’s 2-1 lead. “They beat us so bad (the first time). It was one of the biggest losses in team history.
“We just had to come out and fight. We came out on top.”
Wilhelmsen gave Kickapoo the lead in the 26th minute when he capitalized on a Nixa giveaway in the back.
“I felt like going by them once I got the ball,” Wilhelmsen said. “I don’t see the goal, I just shoot. I just use a lot of power, try to get it on goal.”
He scored again in the 36th minute, blasting a shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and was ruled to have bounced across the line.
“I didn’t see anything. I just turn around and saw the ref (signaling a goal) and I was like, ‘Yeah!,’” Wilhelmsen said.
Nixa’s Jacob Romero chopped the Kickapoo lead in half with a goal in the 44th minute. He and teammate Hunter Daniels were a priority for the Chiefs’ defense.
“We sacrificed a couple of things to shut down their forwards (Romero and Daniels), who are just a load,” Hodge said. “We man-marked those guys for a little bit. Then, we had to adjust even out of our initial game plan and change some things a bit.”
Clinging to a 2-1, the Chiefs withstood a barrage of Nixa attacks over the final 35 minutes.
In the 65th minute, on a shot similar to Wilhelmsen’s second goal, Nixa’s Brady Harrison came close to tying the match. His shot hit the crossbar, but officials ruled the ball didn’t cross the goal line.
Nixa’s bench protested the call, but was issued a yellow card.
Moments later, Kickapoo’s Jacob Holman partially deflected a shot. The ensuing rebound rolled near the goal line, only to be cleared by Salyers.
“My job is to clear the ball out,” Salyers said. “If the ball’s close to the goal, I clear it out. That’s my main role for my position.”
Romero got a clear look from the top of the box in the 71st minute, but the attempt sailed wide of the left post. On what would’ve been a spectacular goal, he nearly converted a diving header attempt in the 75th minute.
Eventually, the game clock did expire. Not a second too soon for the Kickapoo back line.
“It was brutal,” Salyers said. “It felt like a lot of pressure on us and we had to dig in and hope for the best.”
Kickapoo improved to 13-13 overall with the win. Nixa finishes 16-9 overall.
“We put together an incredible game plan coming into tonight. We started working on it on the bus coming back home from the district championship game,” Hodge said. “We told the boys and practiced the last couple of days with it. It panned out for us.”
