
On Wednesday, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association voted to lower the mercy rule threshold for high school soccer from ten goals to eight.
The mercy rule was first adopted in 2005 that determined if a team owned a 10-goal lead in the second half, the match would end at that point.
Under the new rule, matches will end when a team owns an eight-goal lead either at halftime or in the second half.
Last season in total matches involving 2nd Region schools, 50 girls’ games, or one in every five ended with a 10-goal margin. Another 25 games ended with an eight-goal margin.
Every girls’ team in the region played at least one mercy rule match during the season with University Heights Academy, Trigg County, Hopkinsville, and Christian County playing in the most at three each.
In boys’ games, 29 (13%) ended with a mercy rule while another 14 ended with an eight-goal margin.
Henderson County, Madisonville, Hopkinsville, and Hopkins County Central played in four mercy rule matches.
Trigg County and Webster County did not have a 2023 match end with a 10-goal margin. While the new rule would have ended three of Wesbter’s matches with an eight-goal margin, Trigg County didn’t have any of its matches end with a margin of eight goals or more.