By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
At halftime of the Class 4 District 5 soccer championship on Thursday night, both head coaches talked about the importance of the game’s next goal.
Visiting Kickapoo, the top seed, already led 2-0 at that point, but coach Phil Hodge knew that momentum could swing in a hurry.
“It if was them, the crowd’s going to get behind their team and their kids are going to feed off that,” he said.
On the other end of the field, Jacob Osborne told his sixth-seeded Carthage Tigers they needed that next goal to flip the game around.
But less than 30 seconds into the second half, it was Kickapoo junior Landon Keisker who scored that next goal. He launched the ball from at least 30 yards out and found the back of the net, helping the Chiefs to a 3-0 win and their first district title since 2017.
“We went to the Final Four in 2017 and you still have that in your memory and it’s hard to believe our seniors weren’t even a part of that and we haven’t won a district since then,” Hodge said. “This is a fun group. There’s never a dull moment and we have a lot of personalities and I think it shows with how they play on the field. These guys play hard and lay it out there. Tonight I think there was never a doubt. They just left it out there. It meant a lot to them to get this win. Nobody over there had won a district title and I’m just really happy for them.”
Kickapoo (20-6-1) will face Blue Springs in the quarterfinals on Nov. 13. The Chiefs will enter that game winners of six straight and nine of their last 10. Thursday was the team’s 13th shutout this season – and its second against Carthage.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
The Tigers (14-10) were the aggressors early on, and finished the game with seven shots, just two fewer than the Chiefs.
But Kickapoo senior Nicholas McDiarmid knocked in a loose ball in the 25th minute that would prove to be the game winner. And sophomore Liam Olson, with an assist by senior Timothy Morris, scored in the 34th minute for the 2-0 halftime lead.
“We played very well that first half,” Osborne said. “We were very unlucky to concede either of those goals. Both of them were bounces that went their way in the box. We knew their size could be an issue for us and I liked how we were playing but that second goal was huge, what’s when I thought play really flipped because after that first goal we still believed; they were playing our style, the ball was moving and we had flow.”
Then came Keisker’s clincher to open the second half.
“That broke us because 2-0 all it takes is one goal and it’s a completely different game,” Osborne said. “To come out in the first 30 seconds and give up a goal, that was kind of a back breaker for us. They had momentum then and we couldn’t get anything going. There was no rhythm, the ball was constantly either out of bounds or there was a foul. There was no flow to the game and that played into their style of play.”
“Landon Keisker made a heck of a play, a great shot,” Hodge said. “I don’t know how far out he was but he buried it. That set the tone there for the second half. He’s a junior captain for us and that was his 26th goal. He took that to heart at halftime and set the stage there for the second half.”
