Tied in a scoreless game at halftime, Owensboro Catholic was unable to break through Elizabethtown’s defense to find the back of the net and had its season come to a close in the Elite Eight with a 2-0 loss.
The Lady Aces came flying out of the gates trying to put some pressure on Elizabethtown, as senior Katie Riney was able to get a shot off in the third minute. It was deflected out for a corner kick, but nothing came of it and the Panthers started pressing.
Elizabethtown got their first corner kick of the match in the 10th minute, as senior keeper Abby Payne laid out and deflected the ball out of bounds. Nothing came of it, but the Panthers started to take control of the possession battle.
The Lady Aces continued to try and turn quick counters into goals, but they were having trouble getting the ball past the midfield. This allowed Elizabethtown to nearly score on a corner kick with a wide open header at the back side of the net, but the shot was misplayed up and over the goal to keep it at 0-0 in the 20th minute.
The Panthers were able to replicate the set piece 10 minutes later, but fell just short of scoring once again. But that didn’t deter Elizabethtown’s intense attack, as they were able to get the ball in the box on a free kick a minute later.
Following a couple deflections the Panthers were able to get the shot from about 10 yards out, but Payne was able to make the save once again to keep the game scoreless in the 31st minute. Owensboro Catholic was able to get a few counters to close out the half, but was unable to score to send the contest into halftime tied at 0-0.
Elizabethtown didn’t skip a beat coming out of halftime either, getting a corner kick in the 44th minute after Payne couldn’t corral the cross into the box. The volley went wide and the Lady Aces tried to bounce back with a quick goal going the other way, but a battle in the midfield turned into a yellow card for junior Ginny Young after she and a player collided and were tangled up on the ground for a bit.
Owensboro Catholic was able to keep the pressure up despite the free kick for the Panthers though, as senior Maddie Hayden gave them their first shot of the second half. The shot was on target from way out, but freshman keeper Marissa Bates made the save to keep the game scoreless in the 48th minute.
Elizabethtown then continued to keep the Lady Aces on their toes following the save, getting a shot in the 57th minute that Payne deflected away for the save. However, the Panthers were able to quickly regain possession, as sophomore Kennedy Carter got the ball 35 yards out and took it herself just inside the box before rifling one into the left side of the net for the first goal of the night and a 1-0 lead.
Owensboro Catholic continued to try and create chances as the second half progressed, but we’re unable to get many shots. This led to Elizabethtown grabbing one more goal in the 75th minute, as senior Emma Zoeller scored herself on the corner kick after it went off of the far right post to make it 2-0.
This would be the proverbial dagger, as the Lady Aces starters exited the game and the final whistle signaled the season’s end with an Elite Eight loss to the Panthers.
Elizabethtown was relentless in their pursuit of the ball all night, making it hard for Owensboro Catholic to get looks. Head Coach Andy Hines said that winning the battle for the ball was not their strong suit in the game, while noting that hitting some early opportunities could’ve played a huge part in changing the outcome of the game.
“I think it was a very physical game and a lot of balls were in the air on both ends,” Hines said. “Sometimes that’s not really our gameplan. So challenging them and getting the 50-50 balls, we just didn’t win that battle tonight. I think we had a couple of good opportunities early and we just didn’t put them away. When you don’t put away your easy opportunities and don’t get very many, that can be the difference in the game.”
Despite the end result not being in the Lady Aces favor, Hines couldn’t have been more proud of his team for the season that they’ve had. He was especially proud of his seniors—including Maddie Hayden, Rachel Traylor and Katie Riney—noting that without them the recent success Owensboro Catholic has had would not have been possible.
“When I first came on board three years ago, we wanted to rebuild the legacy and get back to winning district championships, region championships and state championships,” Hines said. “I think these three seniors have actually led us [to that]. I mean we’ve won the district two times and we’ve gotten to the Elite Eight two times out of three and they’re a big part of this and just continuing to build our team from where we were four years ago.”
The Lady Aces close out the 2022 campaign with its third straight 9th District Championship, a 3rd Region Championship and two games away from competing for a state championship. With a barrage of upperclassmen coming back and young talent to build on, Hines feels like Owensboro Catholic is set to expand upon the legacy that Hayden, Traylor and Riney have helped bring back to the program.
“We have a good junior class coming back,” Hines said. “We lose three good seniors, but as far as building for the future we have eight to nine players coming in where we didn’t have a freshman class this year because of [things] prior to us getting here. I think building on that from down up and I think we’ve already done that from our youth on up. A lot of those people were in the stands so hopefully they got to experience that tonight.”
