Daviess County enters the 9th District boys’ soccer tournament as the official No. 1 seed for the seventh consecutive season, but this may be the hardest they’ve had to fight to defend their title.
The tournament host Panthers will play No. 4 seed Owensboro Catholic at 6 p.m., while No. 2 seed Owensboro will face No. 3 seed Apollo at 7:45 p.m. The championship will be at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Owensboro has already proved capable of taking down the Panthers, edging past DC for a 3-2 overtime victory earlier this season. It was the first loss to a district opponent since 2014, the season the Panthers started their current streak of five tournament championships.
By both finishing 5-1 in the regular season, DC and OHS tied for the top spot. The Panthers were awarded the No. 1 seed via coin flip.
Apollo and Owensboro Catholic can’t be overlooked, either, though neither was able to top OHS or DC this season.
The Eagles lost the four meetings with the top two seeds by an average of only two goals per game, never allowing more than three goals. The Aces lost their first three district games by a combined 24-0, but after a midseason turnaround lost the final three combined only 12-5.
Daviess County (14-2-2, 5-1 9th District) hasn’t allowed more than three goals in any match this year, and it’s been key for success as they haven’t produced quite the same level of scoring as in recent seasons.
The Panthers have two main threats on offense, as Jacob Boling (23 goals, 6 assists) and Hunter Clark (15 goals, 17 assists) can create opportunities anywhere on the field. Goalkeeper Cody Clark is credited with 70 saves and five shutouts this season.
Owensboro (14-4-2, 5-1) was a little slow out of the gate, but they won 11 of their final 13 games. During that stretch, the Red Devils scored at least five goals in six games while allowing only 11 total by opponents.
Josh Head (25 goals, 8 assists) leads the attack for OHS, though Andrew Saltsman (11 goals, 12 assists), Grayson McFarland (11 goals, 6 assists) and Paxton Jenkins (10 goals, 6 assists) are also dangerous. Goalkeeper Radley Worth has 137 saves and four shutouts.
Apollo (10-8-2, 2-4) has avoided big losses, but they’ve struggled to break through against teams on their level. While they’ve scored 10 goals four times this year, the Eagles have also scored one goal or less 10 times.
A trio of players — Harrison Bowman (16 goals, 8 assists), Jaelin Kirk (11 goals, 4 assists) and Yo Shi Ya (9 goals, 8 assists) — lead the offensive effort. Goalkeeper Matthew Marks has recorded 110 saves and six shutouts this year.
Owensboro Catholic (8-8-1, 0-6) has shown great improvement over the course of the season after a slow start to the year. They held a 2-0 lead before falling 3-2 in their second meeting with Daviess County, so they’ve proven they can’t be overlooked.
Joe Fusco (25 goals, 5 assists) has half of the Aces’ goals this year and can be tough to stop if he gets an opening. Lance Dickens (8 goals, 8 assists) and Cole Blandford (7 goals, 5 assists) are the other two offensive leaders. Caleb Ranello has 82 saves and three shutouts.
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2019 soccer coverage is presented by Worth Insurance Group.
