Owensboro put on an offensive showcase in the 3rd Region Semifinals on Tuesday, defeating Meade County handily at 10-1 to advance to the 3rd Region Championship.
The Red Devils wasted no time trying to set the tone for the match, scoring two minutes into the game on a header from sophomore Ryan Sovar that was assisted by junior Peter Saang. Four minutes later Sovar scored again, this time getting the assist from senior Aiden Frego to make it 2-0 in the sixth minute.
Owensboro was able to get another goal off of a volley in the 16th minute, as Saang’s pass helped Owensboro make it 3-0. Meade County responded swiftly though, getting a goal from junior Brayden Collard to make it a 3-1 game in the 18th minute.
The Red Devils then struggled to finish some opportunities as the half progressed, getting called offside a number of times. They were able to get one more in the 36th minute before going into halftime though, as Sovar hit Frego and he scored to complete the first-half hat trick and make it 4-1.
Despite having a solid lead at halftime, Head Coach Ryan Haley wanted his team to make some adjustments more according to Owensboro’s gameplan. He said that his team didn’t need to be playing in the middle despite the appearance of open space, so Haley and his coaching staff reminded them to look for the wingers.
“I thought they did a good job as far as limiting our attack with their high line running that trap,” Haley said. “Our boys got caught offside a lot, but what we wanted to do coming into this game was to play the corners and not play direct… So at halftime we talked to them about playing the wings instead of up the middle.”
The Red Devils took note of this, quickly scoring after a big save by sophomore keeper Landon Black on the other end of the pitch. It was Saang who delivered, getting a great through ball on a free kick from junior Arlo Johnson that led to the score and a 5-1 lead in the 45th minute to open the floodgates.
Johnson delivered another great assist from the midfield in the 56th minute, this time hitting sophomore Romer Payne for the goal and a 6-1 lead. Junior Sammy Thawng got in on the action in the 64th minute, scoring despite the shot deflecting off the keeper near the top of the box to make it 7-1.
Minutes later junior Miles Baur used some nifty footwork to move up the left side of the pitch, eventually crossing it to freshman Junior Rugama for a goal and an 8-1 lead. Senior Zach West kept it going and made it 9-1 with a goal on a penalty kick in the 71st minute, while Sovar was able to hit Saang for the final goal of the game to secure the 10-1 win.
“Our boys had fun,” Haley said. “We got some looks on some fast breaks to the corner serving in and finishing. Against a tough Daviess County team coming up we’re going to have to play that fast, so that was good practice for that. We look forward to going into the next game.”
Despite having fallen to the Panthers in three regular season matchups between the two, Haley said that anything can happen in a championship game. He believes his team is going to leave it all out on the pitch at 7 p.m. on Thursday, with the Red Devils aiming to bring home a 3rd Region Championship Trophy for the first time since 2012.
“I don’t think there will be a moment of hanging your heads,” Haley said. “I think we’re going to come to fight in that game. We gotta look to generate a little more offense, but at the same time keep their heavy attack and high numbers coming in at bay. So we’re going to kind of try to find a balance in that… That last game is always different and frankly they’re sick of it and I want to roll with that… We gotta practice tomorrow to get ready, but we’ve been getting ready for them all season.”
