After a slow start, Daviess County’s offense was in sync on runs and got out to a 3-0 victory over Owensboro.
The game was at a stalemate through the first 18 minutes of play, with a poor chipping attempt by the Lady Panthers being the first shot of the game.
The Lady Devils started to pick up the pace minutes later, rattling off a few shots on net. However, Daviess County took over in the last 10 minutes of the first half.
Senior Steeley Walker nearly put the first goal in the books in the 30th minute with nobody in goal, but she was forced to take the shot at a weird angle and it went wind.
Walker made up for it minutes later, as she received a through ball and found the back of the net to make it a 1-0 Lady Panthers’ lead in the 35th minute.
She connected again right before halftime, as a little give and go with junior Allison Boswell put her in perfect position and Walker made it 2-0 by finding the right side of the net in the 39th minute.
Owensboro looked to apply pressure in the second half and force Daviess County to play uncomfortably and it worked early on.
However, a combination of fatigue and the Lady Panthers connecting on a fortunate goal put a damper on the Lady Devils comeback attempt.
That final goal came via junior Reagan Chinn in the 51st minute after Owensboro’s junior keeper Chandler Worth had deflected a free kick shot from freshman Lillian Coombs. This was the proverbial dagger, giving Daviess County the 3-0 win on the road.
Despite the win, Head Coach David Sandifer said that they had some offensive opportunities that they would like to convert in the future.
“We had some opportunities that we’d like to play a little better,” Sandifer said. “We were offside too much, but overall I felt like we controlled the tempo for the most part and they had some decent opportunities to at least extend play.”
Overall Sandifer was pleased with the team’s performance and said that the key to the offense clicking was passing with a purpose.
“It was mainly just playing to feet,” Sandifer said. “When we played the ball forward in the first half it was more ‘lets just see where this goes.’ In the second half it was more ‘this is a pass.’ It didn’t always work, but there was an intent to it.”
For Owensboro, Head Coach Michael Lovett said that they had nobody but themselves to blame for the two quick goals in the first half that set the tone for the match.
“I feel that they earned a hard fought victory,” Lovett said. “This is our second time we played them this year and we made some adjustments obviously, but we played 35 complete minutes in the first half and the last five is on us.”
Lovett said that once the offense had figured out their strategy defensively and they had made a few mistakes, they were able to adjust and attack accordingly.
“They possessed well,” Lovett said. “Once they figured out the timing of their runs against our offsides trap, that was the difference in the first half. In the second half we gave up a goal, but they earned it. The first half was more of we made some mistakes.”
Lovett said that his team played a good 40 minutes in the second half and lost that half 1-0, but regardless they are ready to see the Lady Panthers again in the postseason.
“We know that we’re gonna see them again in the postseason and I think it could be a really good game, a special game,” Lovett said. “It could be a special game for them just as much. But you know, after last year and our result against them and coming back this year, I think we are where we need to be as a program as far as hanging and being able to compete with the elites of our district and our region. It’s just a matter of getting one of those signature wins and I feel it’s just a matter of time.”
The win moves Daviess County to 4-8 overall, while they will look to grab its first two-game winning streak of the season when they host Madisonville North-Hopkins at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, Owensboro falls to 5-4 and will look to bounce back when they host Ohio County at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
