Scoring five goals in the first half, Daviess County beat Apollo 6-0 in the opening round of the 9th District Tournament to advance to the championship game for a 12th straight season. Awaiting them is Owensboro, who shutout Owensboro Catholic 2-0 to return to the 9th District Championship for the first time since 2013.
Kicking off the double header, top seeded Daviess County overwhelmed Apollo early, receiving goals from Eve Kinison, Hadley Morris, Mary Evelyn Wiman, Sasha Foster, and Molly Floyd.
“I felt pretty good about the first half,” Daviess County Head Coach Paige Crisp said. “Apollo had a lot of numbers in the box, like we expected. We moved the ball well and finished the chances we got. In the first half, we did what we needed to come out and do. The second half was a little ugly and sloppy. Hopefully, we got that out of our system and can clean some things up moving forward.
In the second half, Apollo packed it in on their side of the field, making scoring chances scarce, but Bella Coombs took advantage of her opportunity for the Lady Panthers’ lone goal in the final 40 minutes.
Rayleigh Bell, Foster, Wiman, and Coombs all recorded an assist, while the offense finished the night with 35 shots, eight of which were on goal.
Returning to the District Championship, Crisp wants to see her team sharpen up the little things to take home the title.
“We were a little bit sloppy tonight,” Crisp said. “We have played good soccer this year, where we were able to hold onto the ball and move kind of as a team. Tonight, I think after we got up in the first half, in the second half, we stopped doing some of the things we’ve been successful with this season. So, I think we just have to nail down the fundamentals of passing the ball and receiving the ball. We have to do the little things well, and I think the rest will take care of itself.”
Despite losing to Owensboro Catholic twice in the regular season and playing in their own zone for long stints at a time, the Lady Devils capitalized on their opportunities.
“This has been the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Owensboro Head Coach Sarah Poole said. “The last two years we were so close, and we didn’t want to wait another year. We knew tonight was going to be a fight… The girls trusted each other, which is so important.”
After their most recent loss to the Lady Aces, Poole acknowledged that they learned from not marking Allie Marston, who scored five goals in that contest. Last night, Owensboro was without its top man marker in Amiyah Thomas, but Fatima Landero-Luna stepped up in her stead.
Halfway through the first half, Ella Hall found herself behind the Lady Aces’ defense and fed Lily Neiman for a 1-0 lead. Hall’s assist was her 19th on the season, breaking her record from last year of 18. In the second half, Neiman scored her second goal of the game, this time off a free kick.
“I have actually practiced 10 free kicks in that exact same spot,” Nieman said. “I did not think it went in, but instead sailed over. I turned around, but I felt everybody on my back, and it was a nice surprise.”
The Lady Aces had multiple scoring chances throughout the night, but Haley Sikes stood tall in net, finishing with 19 saves.
Owensboro Catholic Head Coach Meg Patton was congratulatory of Sikes’ performance, calling her the MVP of the match. Despite the loss, this was a stellar season for the Lady Aces – finishing the year 14-7.
“The outcome of tonight’s game was not what we had hoped for, but I am so proud of our girls,” Patton said. “From not having a team at all last year, to being this great this year is an accomplishment in itself. I told my girls tonight to keep their heads held high and that we’d come back better than ever next year.”
