Daviess County boys soccer bounced back from a tie in its previous matchup, earning a commanding 5-0 win over Owensboro.
The Panthers wasted no time getting on the attack, as a shot bounced off of the Red Devils senior keeper Logan Lantham in the second minute.
However, junior Hayden Boswell was there to clean it up, giving Daviess County a quick 1-0 lead.
From there on the Panthers continued to apply the pressure, as senior Nick Vincent found the back of the net in the 11th minute to make it a 2-0 game.
With Daviess County controlling possession and two quick goals being surrendered, senior Alex Gonzo came into goal for Owensboro. Gonzo made five saves on the night, but the Panthers offense was much stronger.
The outpouring of offense continued in the 36th minute, when sophomore Sam Glover broke down his defender and found freshman Carter Payne with a great ball and tapped it in to take a 3-0 lead.
Daviess County wasn’t done yet in the second half, as they came out of halftime and scored in the second minute of a half once again.
This time it was Dax Sandifer ripping a shot past Gonzo, giving them a 4-0 lead in the 42nd minute.
A save by Gonzo kept them from scoring shortly after in the 44th minute, but was unlucky in the 53rd minute.
Gonzo deflected a shot on goal by Daviess County in the 53rd minute, but he couldn’t corral it and junior Sean Higgs cleaned it up to make it a 5-0 game.
Owensboro made some late attacks throughout the second half but were unable to convert, giving the Panthers a 5-0 victory.
Head Coach Doug Sandifer said his team was ready to play from the jump mentally, something they have been focusing on recently.
“We [recently] talked about [how] we need to be mentally ready to go every game,” Sandifer said. “Teams are fired up to play us and we need to meet that challenge and we need to be a little more excited than the other team because of the fact that we’re playing. I thought we came out with a little more enthusiasm and a little more desire tonight than we maybe have the last couple games.”
They rattled off 15 shots in the game and had five different players score on the night, using its arsenal of offensive weapons on the roster to keep the defense on their toes.
Sandifer said that by having so much depth they are able to give defenses multiple looks and make it harder to guard.
“What the first shift guys bring isn’t maybe what the second shift guys bring,” Sandifer said. “But they all bring something good to the table and something different than what the defender was getting from the previous guy, so it helps to have that variety that we can bring in off the bench.”
Owensboro Head Coach Ryan Haley said offensively they stayed true to their scheme, had good touch on the ball and played fast all game to outwork their defense.
“They like to play the flanks,” Haley said. “They take their right attacker and left attacker and pitch them inside and then they try to get our right and left backs to follow. Then they send their back right or left up in the place that our guy just left and they hit it over the top or if our guy doesn’t follow then they play that guy who checks in and then they work that angle and get around the flank and serve it in.”
Defensively, Daviess County was just trying to stay in sync with some players dealing with injuries lately. They did so against the Red Devils and Sandifer said they will continue to put forth the work to keep that same level of success coming.
“[We were] just trying to stay compact,” Sandifer said. “We’re trying to get our back four to play as a unit again and we’re not allowing a whole lot of goals lately. So it’s just a constant keep working on it and keep getting better.”
Haley said that he felt as though his team lacked a sense of urgency all night and that the Panthers were in total charge of the game.
“I think DC controlled the whole entire game,” Haley said. “I think my kids didn’t come to play on an effort level collectively. We didn’t bring it. I didn’t think it was one of those games where we should’ve allowed the five goals.”
Haley said that while they don’t have a lot of experience, they’re much more capable of the performance they gave against the Panthers and need some players to step up and provide leadership.
“We’re a young team and I don’t think they realized the gravity of a district game,” Haley said. “We’re lacking some leadership collectively on the team. It’s only coming from a coaching standpoint and that’s all. They’re all nice, good kids and I would lay down in traffic for all of them, but they’re missing a chip on their shoulder. They’re missing some pride.”
The win moves the Panthers to 8-1-1 overall and they will look to make it 10 straight games without a loss against Apollo at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 16. Meanwhile, Owensboro falls to 5-5 overall and will look to bounce back against McCracken County at 2 p.m. on the road on Saturday.
