Caldwell County’s longest postseason run ever reached the championship game of the 2nd Region soccer tournament.
But Henderson County proved to be too big of an obstacle to overcome for the Tigers to continue their 2021 journey.
The heavily-favored Colonels knocked off Caldwell 8-1 Thursday night in the regional final at the Stadium of Champions in Hopkinsville.
Henderson (17-3-4) scored a goal just 6 minutes into the contest and built a 3-0 lead at halftime.
It was 6-0 before Caldwell (9-13-2) got on the scoreboard midway through the second half.
The Tigers avoided the shutout when Grayden Miller finished in front of the net on a rebound off the goalkeeper following a long shot on a free kick by Blake Vivrette in the 58th minute.
But Henderson added two more goals to finish off the win.
It was just the fourth meeting between two teams — three of them in the regional tournament. The Colonels have won all four, including an 8-5 decision in Princeton during the 2021 regular season.
Henderson got two goals each from Braeden Myers-Curry, Carter Denton and Trevor Book in the championship victory. Ashton Todd and Jack Gentry had one goal each.
Henderson will next face the 5th Region champion, either Elizabethtown or Thomas Nelson, in the first round of the state tournament.
Caldwell had won just two regional tournament games in its history before beating Trigg County 3-0 and University Heights Academy 1-0 in a shootout this week.
Corbin Nichols had 10 saves in the Caldwell net.
But Henderson dictated play much of the night, outshooting the Tigers 26-6.
Henderson head coach Benson Pryor won his 200th career game with the triumph and is now 200-73-34 all-time with the Colonels.
