Strong bench play propels Lady Devils to victory

August 18, 2021 | 12:04 am

Updated August 17, 2021 | 10:33 pm

The Owensboro girls’ soccer team secured their first district win on Tuesday night for the young season, defeating Apollo 2-0. The win propelled the Lady Devils to a 1-1 overall record as well as in district standings after opening the season with two straight district games.

The Lady Devils relied on reserves for both goals, marking the scorebook for their first time as varsity players. The low-scoring game left little margin for error, and head coach Michael Lovett was elated to see his team come out on top.

Their first goal came 16 minutes into the game when Addyson Riney squeezed one past a charging goalie. Their second goal came when Rena Sexton booted one in from just in front of the goal 15 minutes into the second half.

“We were able to escape without them scoring, and fortunately, we were able to capitalize on a couple of chances, and that was the difference,” Lovett said. “When you’re called, and you get those five or 10 minutes — you can either make the most of it or complain, and both of those girls made the most of it; I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

It was a defensive stalemate for much of the game, with Owensboro’s two goals coming nearly 30 minutes from each other. Goalie Chandler Worth played a pivotal role in the defensive effort, accounting for nine saves in the shutout.

“I feel that she’s the best goalkeeper in the region and has been for three years,” he said. “She is special and athletic, and she’s learned the position of goalkeeper, which makes her so smart to the position.

“We’re not afraid to play it to her feet, and she’s not afraid to ask for it. That truly helps to have her behind us.”

Apollo had a couple of chances late, none closer than an open shot on goal with 15 minutes left in the final frame. Head coach David Woeste looks for his team to capitalize on more of those opportunities moving forward while improving upon their possessions.

“When you give up a corner, and there is a bouncing ball in there, and you don’t know who’s going to get to it, and we don’t — that’s giving a shot away,” Woeste said. “I felt like our kids played good soccer; I thought we played good possession soccer — that’s starting to happen.

Woeste was also proud of his team’s resiliency and maturity they showed despite only having four seniors.

“I felt like we fought, and fought, and fought — we’re pretty young still,” he said. “We have a lot of youth; it’s taking time. We’re getting closer and closer; we’re just not quite there yet. I’m just really proud of how hard we’re going to the ball and working.”

Owensboro will look to build upon last night’s performance as they prepare to take on Grayson County at home on Thursday night. Lovett thought his team put together two complete halves and hopes to improve on that consistency moving forward.

“We need to be smarter,” he said. “We dodged a few bullets — when you get up, you have to keep your foot on the accelerator. When you let up, that other team is always there.”

August 18, 2021 | 12:04 am

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