After winning nine of ten matches over the course of a month, the University Heights Academy boys’ soccer team has now dropped three straight after a pair of defeats on Saturday at the Central Hardin Bruins Classic.
The Blazers appeared to be in total control in their opener, holding John Hardin without a shot on goal over the first forty minutes and taking the lead after 18 minutes when Griffin McCoy scored off an assist from Ryan Luckey.
McCoy looked set to double the advantage just five minutes into the second half, but his shot from close range bounced off the post, and instead, John Hardin tied the game three minutes later after Eric Romero found the back of the net after a loose ball in the UHA box.
The Blazers again paid for not being able to clear the ball in the back when Ashton Russell scored to make it 2-1 with 25 minutes left.
Things went downhill for the Blazers after a red card reduced them to ten players, and despite continuing to pile on pressure, they couldn’t find the equalizer.
Que Quarles made two saves in goal for UHA before Hayden Fitzsimmons took over and made a single stop. The Blazers held a 14-5 advantage in shots on goal.
The state’s 14th-ranked team, Collins High School, awaited in the Blazers’ afternoon contest at the Elizabethtown Sports Park. The Titans have allowed just five goals in September, and they were on top in the opening ten minutes when Jack Lingo scored off an assist by Connor Ison.
Ison made it 2-0 with help from Lincoln Laubach, and the Titans led 3-0 at the halftime break after a goal by Yosef Monks.
Ison got his second fifteen minutes into the second half, and Collins’ final goal came with eleven minutes to play off the foot of Adrian Mata.
Collins improved to 14-2-1, while UHA slipped to 9-7-1 with a visit from Marshall County coming up on Tuesday.
