Despite watching their second-half 3-1 lead evaporate, Owensboro remained calm and waited for its opportunities. Max Knoop found his chance in the 77th minute, locating a sprinting Jackson Sigler on the left side, who buried the game-winner past Eagles goalie Nolan Perkins. Instead of sitting back, Owensboro spent the final three minutes on the offensive, closing out the game 4-3.
Owensboro entered the game with an emphasis on playing wide, and Peter Mbayo capitalized, scoring twice early to give the Red Devils a 2-0 halftime lead. Entering the half, Apollo switched formations and started to take space away from Owensboro.
“Credit to Apollo,” Owensboro Head Coach Ryan Haley said. “They had a great game plan. They flooded the midfield so that ours didn’t have time. They would get the ball, and there would be five players there. But where the space was, was on the wings.”
Haley acknowledged at halftime that he pointed out where the space was, but Apollo predicted their changes and were presumptive in their adjustments. Ahmad Hanafi put the Eagles on the board in the second half, but Mbayo found Kennedy Payne to push the Red Devils lead to 3-1.
In the 53rd minute, Hanafi scored his second goal of the game to cut the lead to one and then Colton Anderson tied the game seven minutes later on a penalty kick. After struggling in the first 20 minutes to adapt to Apollo’s formation changes, Owensboro tweaked their formation.
“As time went on, we were able to use our high and wide guys to get around the edges and get better looks,” Haley said.
Apollo Head Coach Nikos Agisilaou acknowledged that his team started the game flat, but was pleased with their second half adjustments.
“We matched up really well, and our guys did the job. We switched formations and we had 2-3 in there,” Agisilaou said. “But whatever we switched to, Owensboro did a good job of matching up well. Their midfield is good.”
Last night marked the Red Devils’ 500th win in program history, with Dale Poole being responsible for the first 411. Having coached from 1983-2016, the majority of Owensboro’s current coaching staff including Haley all played under Poole during their high school days. Haley took over in 2017 and has been at the helm for the past eight years – being responsible for the remaining 89 wins.
“500 wins for a program is pretty great,” Haley said. “What Dale did and the foundation he built can’t be spoken enough about. But the best thing about Dale Poole is that he turned us into young men. He taught us more than the game of soccer. For that 500 mark, I am just a shadow behind the big tree that is Dale Poole.”
Daviess County beats Aces in shootouts
Tied 1-1, Daviess County was able to outlast Owensboro Catholic 4-2 in shootouts to win 2-1. Taylor Hoak scored the Panthers’ lone regulation goal in the 66th minute, as they struggled to find a way to beat Aces goalie Jace Obermeier, who finished with nine saves in net. Cooper started in goal for the Panthers, recording three saves in the openoing half. Noah Mason took over in the second half, recording three saves.
“Owensboro Catholic came out with a lot of energy, and we could not match it throughout the first half,” Daviess County Head Coach Dale Armistead said. “We came out much better in the second half and managed to finally get one past Jace Obermeier, who I think was the man of the match. He stopped everything we through at him and allowed zero rebounds all night long.”
For the Aces, Landon Condor scored the team’s lone goal on a Conner Brey assist.
“The boys were outstanding against a very good side,” Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Andy Donohoe said. “In the first half, we created plenty of chances and could have had more than the one goal. In the second half, we defended with composure under lots of pressure from the Panthers, yet we were still dangerous on the break. Losing on penalties is always a cruel end, and the feelings will be raw for a day or so. But we will get back at it and take the belief from this game and push ourselves on for the second half of the season.”
