Down 3-2 with 18 minutes left in its region championship soccer match, everyone was waiting to see if University Heights Academy had some more late-game magic against Henderson County. As the clock dwindled, so did the Blazers’ chance at claiming the school’s first region title in nine years.
And then time just ran out.
Henderson County held off the Blazers 3-2 to win their first region title since 2015. UHA played from behind the entire match and never could find the equalizer they needed to draw even with the 6th District champions.
Ashton Todd got Henderson on the board when he banged home a missed shot in front of the Colonel net 13 minutes in.
Henderson increased its lead to 2-0 in the 24th minute when Adam Gillham fed a cross to Cooper Wilson who converted for his fourth goal of the season.
The Colonel defense did its best to stifle UHA’s leading scorer William Bryan in the midfield. The Blazers managed just two shots in the first half.
Bryan and the Blazers finally dented the scoreboard with 33:31 left in the match. A handball in the box gave Bryan a penalty kick that he nailed home for his 40th goal of the season.
Henderson, however, provided a quick answer when Wilson raced in from the top of the box and knocked home a floating cross to put the Colonels up 3-1 with 32:07 left.
Connor Dill drew the Blazers to within 3-2 when he connected on a laser off a corner kick from 20 feet out.
UHA had a chance to tie the game six minutes later but Boone McElroy made a save on a Bryan shot from the left side.
The Blazers outshot Henderson 7-4 in the second half but fell short on the scoreboard. McElroy had six saves for the Colonels, who improved to 8-2 with the win. Henderson will play at South Warren Saturday in the state sectional. The Spartans beat Warren Central 4-1 to win the 4th Region title.
University Heights sees its season end with a record of 10-3. The Blazer seniors graduate with 48 wins and three wins in the region tournament in their four years.
