Make it back-to-back district titles for the University Heights Academy Lady Blazers. The Lady Blazers used a stifling defense to limit scoring chances for the Hopkinsville Lady Tigers on their way to 5-0 win in the 8th District championship match Wednesday night at the Stadium of Champions.
The shutout was the Lady Blazers’ 12th of the season and third straight over the Lady Tigers.
For the first 15 minutes of the match, the two teams battled to a scoreless draw. UHA controlled the flow of play, but could not find a way to get to the front. That changed when Audrey Perry scored a 15:30, taking a long shot from out front and putting it just out of the reach of Hopkinsville goalie DeAijha Tullis, giving the Lady Blazers a 1-0 lead.
University Heights extended the lead to 2-0 at the 22:15 mark when Audrey Grise took a pass from her sister Alyssa and scored right in front of the goal. Three minutes later, Michelle Salas took a long shot from out front after a corner kick had been played in from the right corner. Salas’ shot deflected off the fingertips of DeAijha Tullis and into the net, moving the lead out to 3-0.
Audrey Grise scored her second goal of the half at the 33:35, scoring off a pass from Kendall Hancock, and giving the Lady Blazers a 4-0 lead at the half.
UHA got right back on the board early in the second half. Skylar Cantrell was fouled in the box at 43:30. Audrey Perry stepped up on the penalty kick and drilled it into the net, pushing the lead out to 5-0.
From there, the Lady Blazers put things on cruise control and rode it on out for the win.
The story of the match was scoring opportunities. UHA took 23 shots while the Lady Tigers could only manage four.
The win improves UHA to 16-2-1 on the season, while Hopkinsville drops to 9-8-2. Both teams will now move on to the 2nd Region tournament next week, which will be played at Henderson County.
