One night after the Trigg County Lady Wildcats set a new record for wins in a season, they accomplished a significant first in program history. The Lady Wildcats scored three unanswered goals in the second half of play as they rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit and upended the University Heights Academy Lady Blazers 3-1 to advance to the program’s first ever berth in the 2nd Region championship match.
Not only did the Lady Wildcats reach the regional final for the first time, the win over the Lady Blazers was the first for Trigg County since September 26, 2009, when Trigg County picked up a 3-2 win.
The match opened with an ebb and flow of action from one end to the other. Early on UHA controlled the pace of play and had the ball moving forward. About ten minutes into the match, Trigg County began to control the pace, but could not find the net.
The Lady Blazers finally broke through at the 33:00 mark Emma Dill scored off a corner kick from Audrey Perry to put the Lady Blazers up 1-0. That would be the score as the two teams headed off to the break seven minutes later.
The first half of play was fairly even, with Trigg County having 8 shots on goal, while the Lady Blazers had seven. Both keepers, Sarah Sink for Trigg County, and Lucy Wilkins for UHA, played solidly for the opening 40 minutes.
Ajae Oats, Cecilia Langhi, Ava Colburn, and Michelle Salas helped to turn the Trigg County attack in the opening half, while on the other end the Lady Wildcats’ Alyssa Southwood, Zoe Miller, and Isabella Detweiler were similarly holding the Lady Blazers at bay.
Both teams were playing hard, but late in the half it began to appear that the Lady Wildcats might have been the more physical team, and that began to have its effect as the second half got underway.
Trigg County evened things up early in the second half of play when Lania Hite found the net at 42:30 to tie the match at 1-1. That seemed to provide the spark and momentum that the Lady Wildcats were looking for.
Hite would score again at the 56:15 mark, this time she took the rebound of a missed shot and got it by UHA goalie Lucy Wilkins to put the Lady Wildcats up 2-1.
The Trigg defense continued its solid play from the first half and got some big-time saves from Sarah Sink in goal as UHA had opportunities but could not get the ball to find the back of the net.
Trigg would then ice the match away when they scored on a long shot from Leiah Hite during a run with just 40 seconds left to make it 3-1.
The shots on goal in the match would be close for the night, with UHA finishing with 18 shots, while Trigg County had 16.
Trigg County improves to 16-2-1 with the win, while the Lady Blazers see their season end at 10-7-1.
The Lady Wildcats advance to Thursday night’s regional final where they will take on Henderson County. The Lady Colonels advanced with a 6-5 win against Madisonville-North Hopkins. Henderson won in penalty kicks 4-2.
