The Daviess County Lady Panthers took down rival Owensboro Wednesday as they grabbed the top seed in 9th District tournament for the second year in a row.
DC controlled the game in the 4-1 victory to finish the regular season at 5-4-2 while OHS finishes it at 3-3.
Defender Mackenzie Sweatt added an assist in the win and is one of three seniors on the Lady Panther roster, along with Avery McNeily and Danielle Carpenter.
She said this season has been about being a leader and teaching the Lady Panther way.
“Because there’s only a few seniors and we’re a super young team, my goal, as well as Danielle’s and Avery’s, was to lead the other girls and show them what to do,” she said. “Carry on the Daviess County legacy.”
Sweatt admitted this season has been more stressful that anticipated and there have been some learving curves but they’re trending upward for the future.
“Our main focus is trying to get better for next year because obviously we won’t be here,” she said of her and her fellow seniors.
With three goals Wednesday, the Lady Panthers are now led in scoring by one of those seniors as McNeily finished with a hat trick to put her at eight goals this season.
Two of her goals came in the first half as DC held a 2-0 advantage going into the break.
McNeily’s third goal came in the first 10:00 of the second as Steeley Walker scored her seventh goal of the season to make it 4-0 with 28:12 left in the match.
Owensboro’s lone goal came from senior Rylee Cox as she’s now scored in the last three Lady Devils matches since they returned from quarantine.
OHS coach Michael Lovett said he was pleased with his team’s play in the loss as they played with a lot of energy.
“The biggest thing when I took over this program was they were afraid of Daviess County,” he said. “Having seen it first hand last year, the kind of machine Daviess County is, I get it as a teenager. One thing we worked on this year is don’t be afraid of anyone. If you’re not afraid of your own shadow, don’t be afraid of anyone.”
Owensboro will take on Owensboro Catholic in the first round of the 9th District Tournament next week as Daviess County will take on Apollo.
Daviess County 4, Owensboro 1
OHS (3-3) 0 1–1
DCHS (5-4-2) 2 2–4
OHS: Rylee Cox (goal)
DCHS: Avery McNeily (3 goals), Steeley Walker (goal, assist), Bailey Porter (assist), Mackenzie Sweatt (assist), Reagan Chinn (assist)
