Jude Mitchell had a hat trick as Hopkins County Central turned the tables on Caldwell County in the 7th District tournament.
After falling 4-1 at Caldwell in the regular season, the Storm scored a pair of early goals in the rematch and went on to post a 4-2 victory Tuesday night in the 7th District semifinal round in Mortons Gap.
Hopkins Central (3-9-1) next faces top-seeded Madisonville-North Hopkins (15-3-3) in Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. championship match.
Mitchell got the Storm on the scoreboard just 2 minutes into the district tourney matchup, chipping a quick shot over the goalkeeper and under the bar to net his first goal.
Will Scott then made it 2-0 in the 5th minute, slipping between a pair of defenders and beating the keeper to the ball as Hopkins Central put Caldwell on its heels early.
The Tigers (6-12) appeared to get back in the game and gain some momentum in the 11th minute when A.J. Padilla scored on a blast from just outside the box. That made it a 2-1 ballgame, with Chase Lantrip picking up the assist on the play.
However, Hopkins Central regained its two-goal margin in the 29th minute when Mitchell scored following a corner kick from Riley Dunlap. That put the Storm up 3-1.
Caldwell tried to take some momentum to halftime when Corbin Nichols saved a penalty kick in the 37th minute.
But Mitchell scored on a long shot from a tough angle in the 45th minute to give Hopkins Central a 4-1 advantage and put the home team in firm control.
Caldwell got its second goal on a long blast from Timothy Nichols that went off the keeper’s hands and into the net in the 78th minute.
But the Tigers could get only as close as 4-2.
William Clevenger made seven saves in the Hopkins Central net.
Nichols recorded 11 saves at the other end of the field.
Hopkins Central held an 18-12 advantage in shots.
The Tigers still lead the all-time series 26-9-1.
Hopkins Central and Madisonville will represent the 7th District in next week’s 2nd Region tournament.
