With a number of different players playing less than typical roles against Ohio County, it was a true team effort for Owensboro in a 5-3 win to advance to the second round of the 3rd Region Tournament.
The Red Devils took control of the pace of the game early, winning the possession battle and grabbing the first goal of the game in the 7th minute. It was senior Aiden Frego back at his initial position of striker that got the job done, taking it into the box and striking the left side of the net to make it 1-0 Owensboro.
Later the Red Devils added onto their lead unconventionally, as junior Sang Thang’s shot deflected off an Eagles defender to make it 2-0 in the 14th. But Ohio County came alive minutes later, playing with much more intensity and pressing upfield.
This resulted in a shot from sophomore Abe Evans that sophomore keeper Landon Black was almost able to snag for the save in the 19th minute, but it slipped out of reach and cut Owensboro’s lead to 2-1. The Eagles weren’t done there either, drawing a foul on senior Jacob O’Bryan in the box after losing the ball in the 25th minute.
Black was able to tip the penalty kick from junior Angel Sandria, but it went off the left side of the net to even things up at 2-2. It seemed as if the tie would go into halftime, but a quick counter off a shot that careened off the post for Ohio County gave the Red Devils life in the final minute of the first half.
Sophomore Ryan Sovar was able to take the ball from the wing into the left side of the box, passing the ball on the ground across the middle to junior Dustin Payne who scored and gave Owensboro a 3-2 going into halftime.
Sovar helped keep swinging momentum their way shortly into the second half, receiving the ball on the left side of the pitch and using some nifty footwork to find himself just outside of the box. His shot would be deflected, but still find the back of the net to give the Red Devils a 4-2 lead in the 46th minute.
The Eagles were able to bounce back and cut it to 4-3 in the 61st minute thanks to a corner kick from Sandria, as sophomore Gavin Peech headed it in to try and help push further for a comeback. But Owensboro responded swiftly, as Dustin Payne was able to take possession and net his second goal of the day after a nice pass from Sovar to make it 5-3 in the 63rd minute.
Payne had recently switched from playing his natural position of center back to striker in the last few weeks, with today being his biggest game with a pair of goals. Following the game, he said that he was able to take things he noticed as a defender to help him grow to be comfortable in this new role.
“From the past couple of games when I switched up to offense, I started to realize what kind of runs to make and I guess it kind of set me up for this game,” Payne said. “I kind of learned from other players. Because when I played defense I would see players make great runs, so I tried to mimic that as I play.”
Head Coach Ryan Haley was thrilled with Thang’s play defensively despite not being at his normal attacking position, while also complimenting Payne and the huge lift he gave them offensively.
“We had to take Sang out of our attack to defend Angel Sandria who is a very good player,” Haley said. “He did a very good job of that. His role was really an unsung role, because he did a very good job containing him. Dustin Payne who is usually a center back, we put him up the field and he scored two goals and almost had another. He played phenomenal.”
Haley said that the ability to play multiple positions is something they stress to all of their players, as it helps them do a variety of different things on the pitch. It was instrumental in the win against Ohio County, especially when it came to limiting them offensively.
“We have a lot of interdimensional kids,” Haley said. “I’ve been coaching these kids since they were young, like sixth and some of them even fifth grade. At that age we preached to them that they needed to be able to play every position… We can interchange almost everyone. We can totally take the attack and put them in the back and the back, put them in the attack. We’re lucky to have that kind of team.”
Ohio County kept pushing and tried to build themselves some decent shots on the night as the second half progressed, but were never able to break through again as the Red Devils advanced to the region semifinals with a 5-3 win.
“We’re really happy to still be alive,” Haley said. “All effort goes to those boys over there,” Haley said. “They played hard. We knew it was going to be a good match and it was. Ohio County should be proud.”
The Red Devils offense was too much for the Eagles on the night, with Sovar being a major contributor. Haley said his play helped the offense move upfield quickly and that he’s going to be a huge talent for the program going forward.
“We’ve gotta be light at practice,” Haley said. “These guys have been going pretty hard, preparing for this game, preparing for the Daviess County game and playing that game. We haven’t had a day off… We played Meade County in the regular season. They’re a good side and they work hard.”
