It figured to be a hard-fought 8th District battle and it did not disappoint. Lincoln Hauret’s goal at the 64;30 mark broke a 2-2 tie and turned out to be the game-winner as the University Heights Academy Blazers fought their way past the Christian County Colonels 3-2 at Givens Field.
The win puts the Blazers in a position to lock up the top seed in the 8th District tournament with a win over the Hopkinsville Tigers when the two teams take to the pitch September 24.
The Colonels sent notice early on however that they were going to be in this one to the very end. Noah Davis sent a rocket off his right foot that curled into the upper right corner just out of the reach of UHA goalie Eli Finch at the 5:15 mark to give Christian County the early 1-0 lead.
UHA controlled the flow of play for much of the rest of the half, but the Christian County defense kept closing the door on the Blazer attack. UHA’s best opportunity in the first half came at the 16:50 mark, but Christian County keeper Mason Malone made a great play to send the ball away from the net and allowing the Colonels to maintain a 1-0 lead that they would take into the break.
The Blazers evened things up early in the second half. Griffin McCoy found the net at the 45:00 mark to tie things up at 1-1.
Christian County got the momentum back at 56:15 when Alex Hale took a long shot from well outside the box and put it into the top right corner of the goal, just out of the reach of Eli Finch, and the Colonels were back in front 2-1.
Less than five minutes later, the Blazers came from behind for the second time in the match. After Christian County was called for a handball in the box, Griffin McCoy drilled the penalty kick for his second score of the night and tied the match at 2-2.
Just 3 ½ minutes later, Lincoln Hauret broke free down the middle after receiving a header and powered the ball past Mason Malone to put the Blazers head for the first and only time of the night at 3-2.
From there the Blazer defense closed out the deal by shutting out the Colonels over the final 15 minutes.
For the night, UHA outshot Christian County 12 to 6.
University Heights goes to 5-3 with the win. The Blazers are back in district play Saturday when they take on Heritage Christian.
Christian County drops to 7-3. The Colonels return to action Tuesday when they travel across town to take on Heritage Christian.
