As if playing one of the best teams in the state wasn’t hard enough, a steady downpour of rain that led to an absolute mess of a field was too much to overcome for Daviess County, and the Lady Panthers ultimately lost 5-0 to Greenwood in the state quarterfinals.
The Lady Gators (21-2-3) built a 2-0 lead by scoring on a couple of set pieces in the first 11 minutes, and soon heavy showers started to move in. Greenwood managed to knock in a couple more goals to take a 4-0 lead at the half, adding one more late in the contest.
“They’re obviously a very good team,” said DC head coach David Sandifer. “We gave up four goals on four free kicks. That makes it very difficult to recover from. In the first half, we created some opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on. They capitalized on their free kicks, and you’re not going to recover from that.”
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For a full photo gallery from the game, click here.
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As rain continued, water drained toward one end of the field — aptly named “The Swamp” — and left big sections of standing water for the Lady Panthers (21-4) to combat over the final 40 minutes.
“The conditions were basically counter to everything that we teach,” Sandifer said. “When you’re playing in literally a swamp like this, the ball has to be off the ground, it has to be in the air. That’s just simply not the way we play. It’s very difficult to go out there in 40 minutes and change the entire nature of your team.”
Sandifer said his team did they best they could, and he was proud of the effort against a really tough opponent.
“Losing in the final eight to the No. 2 team in the state — a team that has been ranked No. 1 in the state for several weeks over the course of the season — it’s hard to hang your head,” he said.
While he knows the Lady Panthers wanted to move on and have a chance at a state title, Sandifer said they have nothing to be ashamed of after a very strong season.
“With 12 seniors, their goal was to make it back to the state semifinals and finals,” he said. “From that standpoint, they would say that it’s disappointing. But 21 wins, four losses — they did an excellent job. Unfortunately tonight the way the ball bounced just wasn’t our way.”
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2019 soccer coverage is presented by Worth Insurance Group.
