Celebrating Senior Night in front of a packed home crowd at Deer Park Elementary Field, Daviess County senior Carter Payne recorded a hat trick in the second half to help put the Eagles away 5-1 for a 9th District boys’ soccer win.
“We have six seniors. They are good kids,” Daviess County head coach Doug Sandifer said. “I’ve enjoyed having them and hopefully, we still have a ways to go before we’re done. They’ve been performing all season and we got to recognize them tonight for their body of work in our program.”
It was a Daviess County junior who broke the scoreless deadlock in the 23rd minute. Saw Mu’s shot was initially blocked by Apollo goalie Luke Mattingly, but it took a fortuitous Panthers roll into the back of the net.
The Eagles weren’t able to create many scoring opportunities of their own early on, but their best chance came in the 37th minute. A Panthers’ shot was blocked deep in Apollo territory and the Eagles were able to recover the loose ball and force a fast break. Streaking into Daviess County territory, Apollo’s shot sailed wide, ending their best chance of the half.
The Panthers outshot Apollo 6-1 in the first half, but Mattingly was a brick wall.
“The first half was sluggish and they just weren’t focused,” Sandifer said. “The distractions being Senior Night can play a role in that. Apollo played very well and their goalie was solid in the first half to keep us out of the back of the net. I felt we weren’t as sharp and as crisp as were capable of being.”
Just three minutes into the second half, fellow senior Cameron Bell fed Payne, who scored his first goal of the game for a 2-0 lead. Ten minutes later, Apollo fed the ball down the left sideline to an open Ahmad Hanafi who beat his defender, drove to the goal, and scored from about 10 feet out to cut the lead to one.
In the 57th minute, Payne was fouled inside Apollo’s territory and was awarded a penalty kick which he buried to make it 3-1.
Another ten minutes later, Payne fed Graham Robinson in the right side of the box to make it 4-1. A minute later, the duo connected again when Robinson found Payne in the center of the box for his hat trick and a 5-1 lead.
For the second time this season, Apollo played the Panthers close in the first half but was unable to finish them off.
“We had a good first half and obviously fatigue plays a part, but the effort wasn’t fully there in the second half,” Apollo head coach Nikos Agisilaou said.
Owensboro 4, Owensboro Catholic 0
Fully healthy for the first time since the beginning of the season, Owensboro overmatched their City-County opponent, shutting them out 4-0. In the first half, Max Knoop fed Jackson Sigler who buried the goal to put the Red Devils ahead 1-0. Later in the half, Ryan Sovar scored twice, receiving passes from Brian Payne and Connor Cundiff to put his team up 3-0. In the second half, Sovar found an open Byaruhanga ‘Meta’ Mutabazi, who made it 4-0.
For the Aces, goalie Ben Dawson finished with 12 saves and kept the game from getting out of hand.
“We played a full game with the starters fully healthy for the first time since August 15,” Owensboro head coach Ryan Haley said. “I think we are very deep with everyone back. Tonight we played all 23 guys, moved the ball well, and created chances on goal at a high rate. I thought the Aces’ keeper Ben Dawson made some tremendous saves. Owensboro Catholic did a good job staying organized and keeping us at bay.”
