After a heavy rainstorm rumbled across the field prior to kickoff, you might have wondered if water wings were going to be more needed than cleats in the match between the University Heights Academy Blazers and the Calloway County Lakers. The wet turf conditions did not hamper the Lakers, however, as they scored the final four goals of the match to take a 4-1 win over the Blazers.
Things started off in the Blazers’ favor early on. Griffin McCoy took the rebound of his own missed shot and then beat the Calloway County keeper to put the Blazers up 1-0 at the 17:50 mark.
The Blazers, with some strong defensive efforts from Matthew Hauret, Ethan Alexander, Mason Price, and goalie Quinton Quarles, were able to keep things that way until the final two minutes of the first half. At the 38:00 mark, Ethan Carson drilled one from right out in front of the net to even things up at 1-1 going to the half.
As you would expect with a 1-1 score, things were fairly even in the opening forty minutes. UHA had nine shots, while the Lakers had eight in the first half.
The momentum of the match took a turn to the team from the west side of the lakes early on in the second half. The Lakers turned up the heat on their attack, spending a good bit of time in the Blazers’ end of the field, and it paid dividends.
Hunter Prince rebounded a missed shot and then found the net at the 52:00 mark to put the Lakers up 2-1. Less than three minutes later, Dalton Puckett took a corner kick and headed it into the goal to extend the lead to 3-1.
From there, the Blazers got their footing a bit, and had some looks at the net, but could not find a way to turn the momentum back to their side of the field.
The Lakers then closed out the match with a goal from freshman Canaan Bazzell in the final minute of the match to reach the final score of 4-1.
After being outshot in the first half, the Lakers ended up with more shots for the match 24-23.
The loss drops UHA to 1-2 on the season. The Blazers will host Lyon County in the 2nd Region All A Classic Tuesday night.
