Playing in front of a packed home crowd Saturday evening, the Owensboro Red Devils couldn’t hold onto an early 2-0 lead, falling to South Oldham 4-2 and ending their State Tournament run.
“I thought our guys gave it literally everything they had. They left it all on the field,” Owensboro Head Coach Ryan Haley said. “We took a 2-0 lead, but a penalty kick at the top of the box kind of got them back in the game. Very similar to a sandcastle on the beach, the tide will come in and eventually knock that sandcastle over. And they were knocking all game, hitting long balls into a box. They have tremendous size, are fast, and play well together.”
Scoreless through the first 15 minutes, Peter Mbayo struck first for the Red Devils. Receiving the ball in the middle of the field, the sophomore dribbled through multiple defenders before unleashing a rocket into the back of the net.
Less than three minutes later, Mbayo’s shot attempt was deflected by the goalie, but Valor Smith was able to capitalize for a 2-0 lead. 30 seconds later, South Oldham scored off a penalty kick. Revitalized, the Dragons scored twice more to take a 3-2 lead into halftime.
“At halftime, we wanted to take our two most defensive centermids and play them lower to prevent them from playing the long ball up the middle of our back line,” Haley said. “Then we wanted to take our top right and left guys and drop and pinch them slightly.”
The Red Devils had a few opportunities in the second half, but were unable to capitalize. With just over five minutes left in the game, the Dragons were able to ice the game.
Despite the loss, the Red Devils finished the season 19-3-1 and reached the State Tournament for the first time since 2012 and the quarterfinals for the first time since 1999. Owensboro is losing two seniors to graduation in Max Knoop and Connor Cundiff.
“Those guys had one heck of a senior year,” Haley said. “They are both very good young men who left this place better than they found it.”
Lady Panthers fall in overtime
Playing in the State Tournament quarterfinals for the first time since 2017, Daviess County’s season came to an end after dropping a heartbreaker in overtime to Central Hardin, 2-1. The Lady Panthers struck first early in the first half when Molly Floyd found Bella Coombs.
With just six and a half minutes remaining in the game, Central Hardin scored the equalizer to force overtime, eventually winning in the first five minutes of extra time.
The Lady Panthers finished with four shots, two on goal, while Kaelin Labhart recorded 11 saves in net.
“I could not be prouder of my girls and the effort they gave last night,” Daviess County Head Coach Paige Crisp said. “We went into the game as the underdog against the number six-ranked team in the state and battled and led until the 74th minute. Losing in overtime is incredibly hard, but it was such a fun game to watch.”
