Houston Collins took full advantage of his chance to play forward Wednesday night, finishing with four goals as Apollo pulled away late to claim a 10-0 victory over Owensboro Catholic in 9th District boys’ soccer.
Collins — typically a midfielder — played significant minutes up front as head coach Ryan Poirier changed the regular lineup around some during the game. Poirier said it wasn’t much of a surprise the Collins found the net four times.
“He has got one of the best touches on the team,” Poirier said. “He’s only a sophomore, but he’s got a really light touch. When that ball hits his foot, it stays close. Any time he’s around the goal, we know if he’s going to get it on his foot he’s got a chance to score.”
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For a full photo gallery from the game, click here.
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Collins’ first goal came with Apollo (2-3, 1-1 9th District) leading 1-0 late in the opening period. Jaelin Kirk delivered a pass from midfield and Collins beat a defender to the ball, taking a couple touches before burying the shot.
Collins later scored three consecutive times during a flurry of goals for the Eagles that put the game out of reach for the Aces (2-2, 0-2) midway through the second half.
Though Apollo largely controlled possession early, it took 33 minutes before Yo Shi Ya scored to break the stalemate. He collected a pass from Dai Hai, used some nice footwork at the top of the box to shake a defender and rolled in a shot to the right post.
The second half was all about the Eagles. Kirk stole the opening kick and scored for a 3-0 lead only 11 seconds in, then picked up his second assist when he set up a goal by Harrison Bowman less than two minutes later.
Bowman added his second goal with an assist from Casey Rynkowski for a 5-0 lead with just under 30 minutes to play. Collins scored the next three — with assists from Ya and Eh Soe, respectively, on the first two.
Jacob Gillim scored the final two goals with an assist a piece from Eh Wah and Bowman, ending the game with 2:04 left on the clock.
Poirier said after a disappointing loss Tuesday, his team was ready to prove they were capable of a better outing.
“I think they realized they had to pick it up a little bit,” Poirier said of the second-half energy. “They were hungry. I knew it didn’t matter who were playing the next game, these kids weren’t happy about last night. They were going to come out and play.”
Poirier was happy all around with the performance but said the aggressive attack was key in really putting the game away.
“We finished some really tough balls that we put in where the keeper had no chance,” he said. “That was really awesome to see. That’s been lacking some games. We’ve had get great chances every game. We don’t always take them. That seems to be a theme the last couple years. We’ll get great chances but we don’t always put them away. Today we put them away. Hopefully that continues.”
Apollo now has more than a week off, returning to action Aug. 29 with a 7:30 p.m. game at Daviess County. Owensboro Catholic will play again at 7 p.m. Monday with a road match at Hopkins County Central.
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2019 soccer coverage is presented by Worth Insurance Group.
