Caldwell County’s guys didn’t just pick up two more wins on the soccer pitch on Saturday, they captured the championship of the Christian County Colonel Showcase.
The Tigers defeated Lyon County 4-1 and Christian County 3-2 in the six-team event at the Stadium of Champions in Hopkinsville.
Caldwell and Bullitt East were the only two teams to finish the day 2-0. The Tigers took home the first-place trophy because their goal differential was better than Bullitt East’s.
The Tigers couldn’t have gotten off to a much quicker start against Lyon on Saturday.
The game was barely a minute old when Timothy Nichols found Alex Noffsinger open in the box, and Noffsinger blasted one into the net to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Nichols later found the net twice himself in the first half to put Caldwell up 3-0 at the break.
Justice Andrews picked up the assist on Nichols’ first goal in the 21st minute while Deacon Carter had the helper on the second tally in the 26th minute.
Caldwell went up 4-0 on an own goal in the 44th minute.
Lyon (3-12-1) broke up the shutout in the 64th minute. Jackson Crawford, who made six saves in the Lyon net in the first half, moved up and scored his first career goal, getting help from fellow senior Deven Guess on the play.
The Tigers outshot the Lyons 24-9.
Corbin Nichols recorded five saves for Caldwell.
The Tigers and Colonels played the last match of the day, with A.J. Padilla scoring in the 57th minute to break a 2-2 tie and lift Caldwell to its 3-2 victory and Showcase championship.
Padillia also had a hand in Caldwell’s first goal of the game when he sent the ball across to Chase Lantrip in the 25th minute and Lantrip scored from the back post to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Caldwell found the net again just 3 minutes later when Timothy Nichols unleashed a long blast that hit off the goalkeeper’s hands but still made it into the net to put the Tigers up 2-0.
Christian (6-8) gained some momentum just before halftime when Christian Lopez unleashed a rocket on a free kick from about 25 yards out. That cut the margin to 2-1 at halftime.
Lopez struck again in the 55th minute, tying the game at 2-2 with his second goal of the night.
But Caldwell scored what proved to be the game-winner just 2 minutes later. Lantrip picked up an assist on Padilla’s goal.
The Colonels held a 14-13 advantage in shots in the contest.
Corbin Nichols had seven saves for the Tigers.
Caldwell has now won four of its last five games after starting the season 2-7.
The Tigers will carry a 6-8 record into Monday night’s home match against Paducah Tilghman.
