Crittenden County knew if it was going to win its first girls’ district soccer title in seven years, they couldn’t let Trigg County’s Lania Hite beat them.
The Lady Wildcats’ leading scorer came into Tuesday’s district championship with 41 goals — three against Crittenden County in two games.
For 63 minutes, their plan was working. Then came the 64th minute.
Hite took a through ball and scored to break a 1-1 tie, and Trigg’s defense held strong to give the Lady Wildcats its second district title in three years.
Tuesday’s win was the 16th straight over the Lady Rockets but the three matches this season were decided by seven goals.
With Crittenden County shadowing Hite for the entire match, the Lady Wildcats looked to its wings to try and generate some offense. It worked in the first half as Trigg outshot Crittenden 10-2.
Both teams had a good look or two in the scoreless first half. Crittenden had a shot bounce off the crossbar in the 34th minute, and Hite peppered a shot three minutes later that was snagged by Lady Rocket goalie Hannah Long.
Trigg opened the second half more aggressively in an effort to strike first. Olivia Noffsinger launched a shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar and caromed straight down. The referee nearest the goal ruled the ball crossed the goal line even though play continued. Noffsinger’s goal ended a 46-minute scoreless streak by both teams.
Crittenden answered in the 57th minute when Elizabeth Campbell took a feed from Taylor Guess and poked home the equalizer.
Neither team got a good look at the goal until Hite scored with 16 minutes left to break the tie.
Trigg battled some fatigue down the stretch but was able to keep the Lady Rockets off the board. Crittenden’s best shot to tie the game came with four minutes left when Trigg goalie Sarah Sink saved a hard direct kick out front. Sink made five saves for the Lady Wildcats, while Long had 10 for Crittenden.
Trigg County owned a 17-7 shot advantage as the Lady Wildcat back line of Zoe Miller, Anna Sink, Brooke Humphries, and Isabella Detweiler kept the Lady Rocket shots to a minimum.
Crittenden County (11-5-2) set a school record for wins and will make its first trip to the region tournament in six years next week.
Trigg County (14-2-1) equaled its record for wins in a season and will look to set a new standard next week at the Stadium of Champions. The 2011 team, coached by Rachel Longley, won 14 games but lost to Caldwell County in the district championship game.
