Photo - Ava Roberts
After losing their regular season matchup with the Hopkinsville Tigers 1-0, the Christian County Colonels knew that they would have to take advantage of any opportunities that came their way as the two teams met Tuesday evening in the semifinals of the 8th District tournament. And that was exactly what the Colonels did.
Christian County used an opportunistic offense and a stifling defense to take down the Hopkinsville Tigers 3-0 and advance to Wednesday night’s district championship match.
Much like their regular season matchup, Tuesday night’s contest was a physical defensive battle for much of the first half. Then came one of those opportunities. Leland Creamer broke open on a run down the center of the field and snuck the ball behind the Hopkinsville goalie to give the Colonels a 1-0 lead at the 31:00 mark. That score would still be in place as the teams went to the half.
Eight minutes into the second half, Christian Lopez sent a rocket shot into the net on a long direct kick from near midfield, moving the Christian County lead out to 2-0.
Less than four minutes later, the Tigers were called for a trip in the box. Bryan Linares powered the penalty kick into the net, extending the lead to 3-0. From there, it was about the Christian County defense.
The Colonels simply closed the door on the Tigers with a defensive effort that limited any scoring chances for Hopkinsville over the final 30 minutes of the match as Christian County kept the shutout in place and will now head to the district championship match. The Colonels took the Tigers’ attackers out of the match and put pressure on the Hopkinsville defense to find a way to keep the Colonels from scoring, which they could not do this time around.
The win for Christian County avenges last season’s double-overtime loss to the Tigers in the semifinal round of the 8th District tournament.
Hopkinsville’s season ends at 6-11-0.
Christian County improves to 7-9-0 with the win. The Colonels advance to Wednesday night’s title match at 7:30. The match was moved to Wednesday night due to the threat of rain in the forecast for Thursday.
Photos – Ava Roberts
