A new tradition began on Thursday night, as the Daviess County (2-0, 2-0) faithful celebrated the life and legacy of former standout athlete Elliott Wells. Following a heartfelt opening ceremony, they Panthers were able to earn a 4-1 victory over Owensboro (1-2, 0-2).
In the opening minutes of the contest, it was not Daviess County who assumed the role of aggressor. Instead, it was the young Red Devils who nearly struck first, with the game’s first shot on goal being cleared from the line by goalkeeper Cody Clark.
The chance materialized on a series of swift passes originating from the left flank while working the ball to the center of the box. However, the Panthers went on to control possession for much of the rest of the game.
After cycling through a process of build-up and forced turnovers, Daviess County was able to apply pressure in the right places to fabricate a goal with 16 minutes gone in the first half.
The shot was slotted home by Eli Watkins after Carson Thomas cut in behind the Red Devils back line to set up his teammate for a simple finish. Thomas’ assist was just the first in a trio of assists he’d manage on the night.
The 1-0 score stood for the rest of the first half, as another crafty pass from Thomas set up a second goal less than a minute after the restart.
This time the beneficiary of Thomas’ play was Nate Dailey. The junior slotted a low strike home past the reach of Owensboro keeper Alex Carpenter.
Another goal came just three minutes later as Thomas rounded out his performance with a nice pass to Tanner Andersen for 3-0.
“Having talented teammates makes sharing the ball worth it,” Thomas said. “It would otherwise be pretty hard to give up the ball, let’s just say that. It’s exciting giving someone else a good goal, and being able to help your team is a good feeling.”
Though a third goal effectively killed off the game, the visiting Red Devils kept searching tirelessly for a goal of their own in the game’s final stages.
That effort produced an opportunity for Peter Saang in the 72nd minute, as he recovered a ball at the edge of the box and curled a nice effort into the top right corner of the Daviess County goal.
Just two minutes later Daviess County recovered their three-goal margin with a score from Sean Higgs, assisted by Andersen. A 4-1 lead held up the rest of the way, signaling a second consecutive district victory for the Panthers.
In total, Owensboro managed 10 shots on goal in the game, while Daviess County forced a Red Devil save 12 times on the night.
“I didn’t like at all how we played in the first half,” DC head coach Doug Sandifer said. “The game was very stagnant in the first half, and I think that was due to a lack of focus with our guys. In the second half, I loved how we came out with a little bit more energy and enthusiasm, which allowed us to get a couple of quick goals. After that, I think both teams got a little bit tired, which made the game pretty sloppy for the rest of the contest. ”
On the opposite side of the scoreline, Owensboro head coach Ryan Haley was thrilled with the effort from his team, though unhappy with the end result.
“Tonight was obviously not the result we wanted,” Haley said. “With that said we went into this game as the underdogs and I believe our young guys fought hard. The fourth goal was my fault on a substitution error because we were playing with only 10 men for about five minutes. The missing player was a right-winger, and they scored from the left flank. That’s on the coach. We didn’t win tonight, but we learned that we can be a tough little team that can play with anybody. That’s a really quality Daviess County team with a really quality coach.”
Up next for the Panthers is a matchup at home at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday against Elizabethtown. For the Red Devils, their next opponent will be Glasgow at 10 a.m. Saturday at home.
