In the second round of district matchups this season, Apollo played host to Owensboro Catholic on Thursday night. For the second time in as many games, Apollo hosted the game at New Eagle Stadium, in lieu of their traditional Bermuda pitch. However, the Eagles (1-1, 1-1) were unable to defend their home turf, as the Aces (2-1-1, 1-1) gutted out a gritty victory after penalty kicks by a score of 1-1(6-5).
In the first half it was a gritty display of defense on both sides of the pitch. Both the Eagles and the Aces struggled to get into the final third, having very few true chances between them. Perhaps the best chance came for Apollo on a free kick within the closing seven minutes of the half, when Owensboro Catholic goalkeeper Parker Jones was able to defend a shot with a fair bit of pace from the Eagles’ attack.
The save was not completely straightforward, however, and as the deflected effort bounded towards the goal, Jones was required to fully extend in an athletic effort to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line completely.
The second half started much quicker than the first, with Owensboro Catholic finding themselves the beneficiaries of a handball shout in the penalty box after just two minutes had run off the clock. The result was a goal from the penalty spot off the boot of junior midfielder Brody Martin for the visitors, putting them in front 1-0.
From there it was game on for the Eagles, who’d held possession for much of the contest. The chances came thick and fast, and a scurry of corners, free kicks, and half-chances came to a head with a decisive moment in front of goal for Apollo’s Dah Hai as he leveled the score at 1-1. The chance was created after a deflected pass attempt off the boot of Carter Kopczynski reached Hai in the middle of the box, and Kopczynski was officially credited with the assist after the game.
For the remainder of regular time, both teams shared possession and chances, but neither squad was able to nab a winner as the clock ran out. Due to the fact that this was a district matchup, a draw simply wouldn’t do as a result and two five-minute overtimes were required. Again, though, neither team netted the winner, so the game continued on to a penalty shootout.
In the shootout it was the afformentioned Parker Jones who played hero for the Aces, saving two shots in seven attempts. When the dust settled, Owensboro Catholic prevailed by a shootout score of 6-5.
After the game, Aces head coach Andy Donohoe commented on the mettle his side showed in defense all throughout the contest.
“All the credit goes to the players tonight,” Donohoe said. “When you play as a team, you become more than just a collection of individuals. We have our top players playing in positions they aren’t normally used to, but they’ve done it and it’s all for the team with these boys. A penalty shootout is a bit of a lottery and it could easily have gone either way, but we won tonight and I think it is a deserved result for the way the boys defended all game. I’m just so proud of them.”
On the opposite side of the result Apollo head coach Ryan Poirer was complimentary of his side, as well as the game plan of the opposition.
“We put the one in tonight, but despite playing hard we just couldn’t convert there towards the end,” Poirer said. “Credit Owensboro Catholic for a good game plan and a defensively solid effort. We didn’t have too much trouble getting into attacking spaces, but once we were in front of goal we just couldn’t find any space to get shots away. They took really good penalty kicks tonight and that was the difference tonight. I’m proud of our team, the guys played hard, but it just wasn’t our night tonight.”
Owensboro Catholic will be back in action Saturday night away to Christian County, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. Apollo will be back in action Saturday as well, with a doubleheader away to Calloway County and Murray. Kickoffs for those contests are 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively.
