The University Heights Academy Lady Blazers put up 55 shots against Union County in Tuesday’s region quarterfinal match. Despite the best efforts of Bravettes goalie Kylie Cross, ten of them went in to give UHA a 10-0 win in 55 minutes.
From the opening whistle, the Lady Blazers were the aggressor. They put up 14 shots in the first ten minutes but only found the net twice.
Part of it may have been the weather. Temperatures in the low 50s made the soccer ball feel like kicking a watermelon at times. Another part, as UHA coach Michael Parker said, was just finishing shots.
“It’s just a matter of not finishing the way they could. I just don’t think we finished. I think the first few minutes, the chances fell fairly easily to us. And you know, once one or two didn’t go in,” he said. “It just starts to build. I watched a couple of the kids take shots where they were stepping back and the ball was spinning back instead of stepping into it, which is uncharacteristic. They know what they’re meant to do.”
Audrey Grise scored off a cross from Audrey Perry in the fifth minute to get the Lady Blazers on the board. Two minutes later, Perry assisted Kendall Hancock on the first of her five goals.
But the scores didn’t immediately follow as Cross made save after save for the Bravettes, deflecting point-blank shots. She entered the game averaging 16 saves a contest but finished Tuesday with 34 saves. Legit saves. Not times where she touched the ball or caught a cross. She had 34 saves as UHA put up 55 shots.
Hancock added two more goals and Grise scored once for a 5-0 halftime lead.
UHA scored five times in the first 15 minutes to end the match via the mercy rule. Perry scored on a penalty kick and Kate Adams lofted home a left-footed shot around two more Hancock goals.
Lucy Wilkins ended the match with a header in the box off a corner kick – one of five assists by Perry.
The Lady Blazers got seven goals and five assists from sophomores, which has been the norm for the season.
“We’ve started freshmen and sophomores all season pretty much and they don’t play like their age. Like Kate Adams tonight stepped in, moved it from her good foot to her weak foot, and then put it right into the opposite corner,” Parker said. “They surprise me almost every night. You know, how comfortable they can look in the game.”
After missing out on the region tournament for seven years, Union County (3-17) has made back-to-back trips to the quarterfinals as their rebuilding effort continues.
UHA (17-2-1) will meet Madisonville (10-8-1) in Wednesday’s 7:30 semifinal. Their September 26 match ended in a 2-2 tie.
“I think Madisonville has got a really good team. A lot of good players, and they are a well-coached team. And the effort and the fight they give is second to none. But I think that we can play better than we did that night,” Parker said. “I think we can finish better than we did that night. And the way we passed the ball around tonight, I think that we’re looking forward to the game. I think we’ve played well enough all season to deserve to be in this position.”
The 5:30 semifinal features Trigg County (18-2) and Henderson County (11-8).
