Daviess County won their district matchup 1-0 against Owensboro ahead of their celebration of Elliott Wells Week. Meanwhile, Owensboro Catholic beat Apollo 3-2 in a match that was forced into a penalty shootout.
Tonight’s district matchup of Owensboro versus Daviess County was a special occasion as Daviess County is observing Elliott Wells week. The week is dedicated to former DCHS soccer player Elliott Wells who passed away on December 18, 2020. Wells was a model player for the program and head coach Doug Sandifer felt it was important for the players that come after him to learn about who he was and what he exemplified.
Sandifer came up with the idea for Elliott Wells Week where they tell stories of Wells to current players, tell the kind of person he was and the legacy he left behind. Sandifer also created the Wells Scholarship as well. The scholarship is given to a graduating senior at DCHS’ banquet who best portrayed the traits that Wells embodied and has a positive impact on the program.
“Elliott was a unique guy that would play as hard as anybody out there, but it never got to where it was ugly or nasty,” he said. “He saw the big picture and he was fighting his tail off, but he was also having fun and treating his opponents with respect. It never got ugly with him out there.”
The Panther Classic was renamed the Elliott Wells Classic in his honor. The competition will take place on September 9 and will be fundraising for the scholarship. A short ceremony will be held at around 9:30 a.m. before the first game in memory of Wells.
DCHS 1, OHS 0
As for the district matchup, the competitiveness of Wells was on display as the Panthers won 1-0 against the Red Devils in a match that went to the final whistle. The first half of the game was an even matchup as both teams saw about equal amounts of possession. The defense of both teams worked overtime as there were plenty of attacking opportunities throughout the half. The deadlock persisted and the game went scoreless into halftime.
The deadlock was broken in the 57th minute when Lukas Humphrey found a shot in the middle of a struggle to clear the ball from the box. This would go on to be the game winning goal, as the rest of the second half saw the Devils kept the pressure on with multiple late game opportunities but failed to find the net.
Despite losing narrowly, OHS head coach Ryan Haley saw this as one of the best games the Devils have played so far this season.
“I’m extremely proud of the way they played tonight; they fought and they were dogs tonight,” he said. “Both teams were as a matter of fact. I think it was a classic Apollo versus Rocky type of fight. This was good and this is how it’s gonna be.”
OCHS 3, AHS 2
The Aces won against Apollo in a game that was forced into a penalty shootout. The Eagles held a 2-0 lead at halftime with goals from Keenan Jackson, from an assist by Ra Ne Son, and Omid Hanafi, from an assist by Colton Anderson. In the second half, a penalty was scored by Gene Johnson to edge the Aces back into the game. The tying goal was scored by Joseph Kurtz from an assist by Luke Pfeifer from a free kick. The game then went into extra time where both teams were scoreless. The Aces came out on top in the penalty shootout to secure the 3-2 win.
Eagles head coach Nikos Agisilaou said his team were ready to face the shootout head on as they had already been in that situation with Catholic before.
“Our boys were confident going into penalties especially since we went into penalties against them the first time around,” he said. “I do think we were upset that we didn’t finish the game like we should have and let them back into the game.”
The comeback that the Aces made in regulation to tie the game helped motivate OCHS going into extra time and the shootout, head coach Andy Donohoe said.
“The mentality was a build on the second half mentality,” he said. “It was a complete 180. The boys really stepped up and set the tone. We brought that into the extra time and worked hard for the result.”
