With 10 minutes left in the match Monday evening, the Todd County Central Rebels appeared to have things well in hand against the Hopkinsville Tigers. Then, Hopkinsville very nearly pulled off a comeback for the ages.
Hopkinsville scored three goals in the final ten minutes of the match but it was not quite enough as the Rebels held on tight to take a 5-4 win at the Stadium of Champions.
The Tigers got on top early in this one. Mikel Ramirez got open in the box and sent a shot into the back of the net, putting Hopkinsville up 1-0 at 07:30.
Just a minute and a half later, the Rebels scored when Chris Salazar sent a corner kick into John Ross Cardwell, who scored the first of his three goals on the night to even the match at 1-1. That combination struck again later in the half giving the Rebels a 2-1 lead going into the break.
Todd County Central came out firing on all cylinders at the beginning of the second half to gain control of the match. Salazar scored on a free kick and it was 3-1. Tanner Henderson hit Cardwell on a run and the lead grew to 4-1. Shortly after, it was Cardwell with the assist and Henderson with the goal and it looked like this one was about settled with the Rebels holding a 5-1 lead.
Then the final 10 minutes arrived and things got interesting. A handball call on the Rebels led to a Hopkinsville goal on a penalty kick, cutting the lead to 5-2. After a Rebel miss, the Tigers quickly countered and found the net making it 5-3.
With two minutes left, Hopkinsville scored a header off a corner kick to make it a 5-4 match. But that would be the end of the rally, as the Rebels were able to fend off the Tigers for the final two minutes.
John Ross Cardwell had a very big night for Todd County Central with three goals and an assist. Chris Salazar had a goal and two assists, while Tanner Henderson added a goal and an assist.
For the Tigers. Mikel Ramirez, Kyler Delvecchio, Erick Hernandez, and Alexander Marcano, all had a goal each.
Delvecchio had two assists for Hopkinsville. Gavin Harton added another.
Landon Beaulieu finished the night with 5 saves in goal.
With the win, which was the Rebels’ fourth in a row, Todd County Central improves to 9-1-1. Todd County Central goes on the road to Logan County Tuesday night.
Hopkinsville loses for the fourth straight match and goes to 3-11. The Tigers are set to host Bowling Green Saturday morning.
