Thursday’s 9th District boys’ soccer match between Apollo and Owensboro Catholic felt more like a primetime postseason matchup and it lived up to the billing as penalty kicks had to be had to determine a victor.
Apollo won the match 1-0 (4-2 PK) over Catholic at OC Thursday and with the victory, the Eagles took a big step forward in the district.
“If you win that first one, that puts you in a good spot,” Apollo coach Ryan Poirier said. “Especially with this year, we don’t play each other twice. You lose that first one, you’re behind the ball so it was nice to come out. I knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. They’re a good team. They played really well. We played really well. It’s one of those games where PKs are kind of fitting both teams played so hard and played so good.”
Poirier told his assistant coaches that he didn’t even think about penalty kickers this early in the season and just picked five players he felt were ready.
“I felt confident we’d be able to get it done,” he said.
Both teams had chances throughout the match but neither was able to get a crucial goal.
Catholic coach Andy Donohoe and his squad were coming off of a dominant win Monday over Muhlenberg County but weren’t able to continue its offensive onslaught as the Aces netted nine goals in their first victory.
Donohoe said they’ll be able to get just as much from Thursday’s loss.
“Obviously, the immediacy of the loss is kind of there in the forefront of our mind but that’ll fade,” he said. “The first half, we were excellent. What’s a killer for both teams is the fitness level. Nobody’s had a preseason to get where they want to be.”
In an already competitive 9th District, Thursday’s results made things that much closer.
“The 9th’s been good for awhile and County keeps going to finals and they’ve won a championship,” he said. “We haven’t been able to get passed them in years past but we’ve been close and we’ve been able to be competitive. It’s important that we can get this one, get us some confidence … This district’s going to be a fight.”
Donohoe agreed.
“I think is probably the season closest season it’s been, at least for a long time,” he said.
Apollo continues its season Saturday at Webster County while Owensboro Catholic plays Saturday at home against Grayson County.
Apollo 1, Owensboro Catholic 0 (4-2 PK)
AHS (2-0) 0 0–1 (4)
OCHS (1-1) 0 0 –0 (2)
