The Columbia High School soccer team seemed to have things well in hand early in Tuesday night’s sectional semifinal contest against Anna-Jonesboro at SIUE’s Korte Field in Edwardsville.
The Eagles (17-3-2) led 2-0 at halftime on goals by Adam Becker and Sean Rickey.
But Anna-Jonesboro battled back with two second half goals to send it to overtime, and actually took the lead in OT before Columbia senior Ryan Gudeman tied it at 3-3 on his goal with less than four minutes left.
The do-or-die game went into penalty kicks, and in a wild finish, Matthew Roderick sent the Eagles into the sectional final with his game-winning goal.
Columbia will play Wesclin (15-5) in the sectional title game to be played 2 p.m. Saturday at Metro East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville.
The Eagles defeated Wesclin, 7-0, back on Sept. 8.
Read about Columbia’s regional championship performance in the Oct. 22 print edition of the Republic-Times newspaper.
