It has just about become a tradition that the University Heights Academy Lady Blazers and the Murray Lady Tigers meet in the sectional round of the girls’ All “A” Classic soccer tournament. For the second year in a row, it will be the Lady Tigers who advance on to the All “A” state tournament quarterfinals.
Kyra Jones shot right in front of the net at the 73:30 mark proved to be the game-winner as Murray edge out the Lady Blazers 2-1 at Givens Field. The winning goal came right after the Lady Tigers were the beneficiaries of a very close foul call on the UHA end of the field.
The Lady Blazers tried desperately over the final six minutes to get a good look at the goal but could not get a shot to go as Murray held on for the win.
The night started off not quite so promising for the Lady Tigers. A Murray defender, off a corner kick from UHA’s Addi Fourqurean, got her foot on the ball and deflected into the net for an own goal to give UHA a 1-0 lead at the 11:30 mark. The Lady Blazers had a great chance to extend the lead, but a rocket shot off the foot of Audrey Grise hit the right post and deflected away from the net.
Murray was able to even the match up at 1-1 just eight minutes later when Kerigan Welsh managed to bounce a shot over the head of MacKenzie Young and into the net. That would still be the score twenty minutes later when the two teams went into the break.
The first half played out as evenly as the score, with both teams seeming to control the tempo and possession for an equal amount of time. Murray did outshoot the Lady Blazers 6-5 in the opening forty minutes.
It looked as if Murray might take an early lead in the second half when the Lady Blazers were called for a foul in the box. However, MacKenzie Young deflected the penalty kick and then covered up a shot on the ensuing corner kick to end the threat.
The second half played out a bit more in the Lady Tigers’ favor as Murray was able to spend more time pushing the Lady Blazers back towards their own goal. Murray would end up with an 8-4 advantage in shots in the second half.
The emotion of the tightly contested match was on full display on the faces of the Lady Blazers after the final whistle sounded, with tears flowing freely with the realization of the end of the All “A” tournament trail.
The Lady Blazers are scheduled to be back in action Thursday when they travel to take on Henderson County.
