The Caldwell County Lady Tigers captured their first 2nd Region All A Classic soccer championship on Saturday, shutting out Crittenden County 7-0 in the final at Butler Stadium in Princeton.
Caldwell, now 5-1-1, advances to face 1st Region champion Murray in a semi-state contest. Murray will host that match at a date to be determined.
The Caldwell-Murray winner moves on to the All A Classic state tournament Sept. 24-25 at Capital View Park in Frankfort.
The Lady Tigers dictated play for much of the match against Crittenden, consistently putting pressure on the Lady Rocket defense.
Crittenden (3-2-1) did have a scoring chance about 10 minutes into the contest with a chance to get on the scoreboard first.
Leading scorer Taylor Guess got off a blast between two defenders near the top of the box. However, that shot missed to the left. That might have been the Lady Rockets’ best chance of the match.
Caldwell found the net for the first time in the 18th minute. Harper Ritchey finished inside the box with Keegan Miller picking up the assist.
Just 4 minutes later, Caldwell struck again. Miller got a goal of her own this time with Mariah Merritt getting the assist.
The third goal came in the 24th minute after the Lady Tigers earned a penalty kick. Cali Traylor converted to put Caldwell up 3-0.
With Crittenden struggling to generate any offensive push, the Lady Tigers spent the second half padding their lead.
Merritt scored in the 48th minute with help from Miller.
Miller picked up her second goal in the 53rd minute. Her penalty kick was blocked by Crittenden keeper Hannah Long. However, Miller quickly tracked down the rebound and sent the ball back in past the goalkeeper and into the net. That made it 5-0.
Tallie Branch scored on a 20-yard blast in the 65th minute. Her shot hooked inside the far post to extend the margin to 6-0. Marissa Smith picked up an assist on the play.
Caldwell’s final goal came in the 80th minute. Traylor headed home a shot from in front off a corner kick from Jena Grimes to put the finishing touches on the Lady Tigers’ first All A Classic soccer championship.
Caldwell has never lost to Crittenden, improving to 29-0 all-time.
The next match coming up on the Lady Tiger schedule is at home on Tuesday against Henderson County.
