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The LaGrange boy’s soccer team scored with just a minute on the clock to top rivals Troup 2-1 in a thrilling encounter at Callaway Stadium. Senior Aidan Collins was the hero for the Grangers as he latched onto a save from Owen Tucker that rebounded right in front of goal.

“This win is about the team,” Collins said, brushing off any personal glory. “It felt good to score that one for my team.”

The senior was the calmest man in the stadium and his right foot gave the Grangers their first lead of the night with 60 seconds on the clock. Collins nearly had a second goal, but the ball rolled over the line just a second after time expired. 

“I’m not sure if it counted or not, but the win is the most important thing for us,” Collins said. “After how bad we played in the first half, we had to come out to be better in the second half and we were.”

The Tigers opened the scoring with a goal early in the first half from Austen Snellings on a free kick from Yuri Kim. 

The danger was present on dead balls all night for Troup, which was an emphasis for the LaGrange defense this week in practice.

“We know their best chance for a goal was going to come from a direct kick and we just didn’t track our runners like we had been working all week in practice,” LaGrange coach Shane Pulliam said. 

Troup would keep its 1-0 lead until just over three minutes into the second half when Luis Morales found the net to tie the game.

The game would stay in the balance until the final kick of the match. 

Troup fell to 6-8 overall and 4-3 in the region. 

LaGrange improved to 9-4 overall and 5-1 in region play. The Grangers will host region-leader Whitewater on Friday in what will be a massive game for the region standings. 

“If we beat Whitewater, there will be a three-way tie for first place, so we could still be region champions or finish third in the region, but we have to come out there and focus on getting a win,” Pulliam said. “Whitewater is also very good from direct kicks, so that will be something that we will have to clean up.”