In an otherwise defensive stalemate, all four goals came during an eight-minute span — including three within 90 seconds — in another heated matchup between Apollo and Owensboro.
The Red Devils (7-3-1, 3-1 9th District) eventually came out as 3-1 victors at home Tuesday night, claiming their fourth consecutive win and earning the season sweep against the Eagles (4-5, 1-3).
Owensboro’s first two goals came from a pair of penalty kicks barely more than a minute apart, and Josh Head buried both into the bottom left corner. The first was set up after a foul in the box, while the second came after a handball in front of the goal.
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For a full photo gallery from the game, click here.
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Apollo trimmed the deficit in half only 14 seconds later with a quick push up the field. After a pair of shots were deflected, Jaelin Kirk booted one in from 15 yards out to cut Owensboro’s lead to 2-1 with 21:33 to play.
The final score came six minutes later when Owensboro stole a pass near midfield and pressed up the middle. Kevin Payne sent a pass up to Paxton Jenkins, who took a touch before finishing with a score.
Apollo head coach Ryan Poirier said after giving up the unfortunate penalty kicks, the defense settled in and mostly contained a versatile Owensboro offense.
“They’ve got a lot of talented guys on offense, a lot of guys that are quick with their feet,” Poirier said. “They’re fast with the ball. You have to be really disciplined when you play them and you’ve got to keep them in front. They took advantage of some mistakes of us giving the ball away. We didn’t pass as well as we could have.”
Red Devils’ head coach Ryan Haley was also happy with his team’s defensive effort and said they were able to execute the game plan early.
“We want to press with the backs and pinch up the field,” he said. “I think our defense really played well to contain them. I think our midfield was excellent in the first half. We were pressing the whole time.”
Apollo came out of halftime strong but wasn’t able to get many good looks at the end of a handful of runs. Poirier is hoping they can break through soon.
“We responded well in the second half,” he said. “We had a lot of chances and had a lot of the ball, which is good. Hopefully we get some breaks in some of these games. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like we’re quite as lucky as the other team. We play well, but it doesn’t feel like we get those lucky bounces.”
Haley gave credit to Apollo for fighting until the end, something he didn’t think his team did after Head — who leads the team with 15 goals — received a yellow card midway through the second half.
“I thought Apollo did a very good job effort wise,” Haley said. “They played the full game. That’s something we did not do. It’s something we’re going to keep working on. We’re still growing. We’ve got to quit leaning on one player and learn to attack without him if he’s not in the game.”
Owensboro keeper Radley Worth finished with nine saves, while Apollo goalie Matt Marks had seven.
Owensboro is now off until Tuesday when they host Madisonville-North Hopkins. Apollo will be in action Saturday in the Boots and Butts Soccer Classic played at Hopkinsville.
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2019 soccer coverage is presented by Worth Insurance Group.
