University Heights Academy will play in the semifinals of the boys’ 2nd Region soccer tournament for the fifth straight year.
The Blazers got two goals and an assist from sophomore Lincoln Hauret Monday night while dismissing Lyon County 3-0 in a first-round matchup at Madisonville-North Hopkins High School.
UHA (13-8-1) will face a stiff challenge in its next match on Wednesday, though. The Blazers will face defending regional champion and this year’s favorite Madisonville (17-3-3) in the 5:30 p.m. semifinal. The Maroons advanced with a 6-0 win over Webster County Monday night.
University Heights, the 8th District champion, dominated in its opening-round win, although a scrappy bunch of Lyons (3-16-1) kept the game close for a long time.
The Blazers held a 36-3 advantage in shots in the contest, but led just 1-0 well into the second half.
Senior goalkeeper Jackson Crawford helped keep Lyon in the contest with seven saves in each half — many on difficult chances.
The only goal of the first half came with 17:50 left before the break.
Lincoln Hauret sent the ball in the middle to senior Matthew Hauret, who buried a long shot from outside the box into the left side of the night.
The Blazers outshot 5th District runner-up Lyon 20-0 in the first 40 minutes, but managed just the one goal.
Some breathing room for UHA came with 27:12 left in the contest. Ryan Luckey sent a through-ball into the box that Lincoln Hauret ran onto and punched past the keeper to make it 2-0.
Lincoln Hauret scored again with 23:49 remaining in the match. He stole the ball near the sideline, beat a pair of defenders in the box and scored from point-blank range to put the Blazers up 3-0 and virtually guarantee an appearance in the next round.
Lyon’s best scoring opportunity came in the 59th minute when Kamden Garrie had a look at an open net following a long free kick by Colt Bannister and a save by Que Quarles. However, UHA’s Harlow Hampton made a sliding stop in front of the net to keep Lyon off the scoreboard.
University Heights has won its last eight matchups with Lyon.
