Madisonville North-Hopkins boys soccer moved one step closer in its Second Region preparedness Thursday night, when the Maroons — now 9-6-1 — topped Webster County 4-1 on the road.
Senior Eli Redpath led the way with the brace and an assist, keeping him at a team-best 22 goals and 11 dimes on the year.
Another senior, Logan Terry, notched his 11th goal, while senior Brighton Mier snagged goal No. 2 of this campaign, and sophomore Dominic Blanford snagged his sixth assist.
Mier scored with 36 minutes left in the first half, Terry scored with 12 minutes left before halftime, and Redpath notched his scores after the break for insurance
“The guys played really well and competed hard,” noted coach Taki Agisilaou. “This late in the season, I’m telling our guys we’ve got one goal: it doesn’t have to be pretty, we just need to win the game.”
Agisilaou also noted he had two keepers once again split time in the posts, with Hunter Gamblin and Adam Devine each snagging one save, with Gamblin allowing his 21st goal behind a mad scramble from the Trojans.
Gamblin has played in 15 games and Devine has played in 14 games, in something akin to a two-quarterback system. Each goalie has been credited five shutouts: against Caldwell County, against Daviess County, against Hopkinsville, against Hopkins County Central, and against Fort Campbell.
Webster County, meanwhile, had been winners in four of their last six — beating Trigg County, Hopkinsville, Apollo and Lyon County, and tying with Owensboro — before falling to a respectable 7-6-2. The Trojans are currently fifth in Second Region RPI.
Hopkinsville will play host to the Second Region Tournament in October, at historic Stadium of Champions.
UP NEXT: Of the Maroons’ final five games of the regular season, four are at home — including this Saturday’s matchup against legendary coach Michael Wiersema and his First Region annual contenders of McCracken County.
Kickoff is set for 12:30 PM.
The Mustangs, now 6-4-6, are third in First Region RPI (.538) with ties against Henry Clay, Bryan Station, Marshall County, Lake Central (Saint John) Indiana, Evansville Memorial and Henderson County.
Goalkeeper Lane Grace has three shutouts and 82 saves in 16 games, while five players have at least 10 points: Dexter Pacheco, Maks and Jake Hazel, Julian Warfield and Mason Atnip. Two others, Lenny Garcia and Dawson Beyer, have nine, and Brady Hayden has eight. Pacheco leads the squad with seven goals, while Maks has a team-best seven assists.
Fifteen different Mustangs have at least one assist.
“We’ve played a tough schedule again,” Agisilaou added. “But this has been a great year.”
Outside of a 5-1 loss against Marshall County on September 14, Madisonville’s only other experience against the First Region came out of scrimmage this year, where the Maroons and the Murray Tigers played to a 2-2 draw.
“We fell behind 2-0 in the first five minutes, and I was immediately thinking ‘oh man, these guys are really legit,’” Agisilaou remembered. “But then we were able to scratch and claw back to make it an even game. They are very, very good.”
If a 2-2 draw with Murray is any indication on what North Hopkins can do late in the season, that could spell good news. The Tigers, after shellacking Mayfield 7-1 Thursday, remain an unblemished 15-0 — and are poised for a Kentucky Class 2A in-season title, First Region championship and potentially deep push into the state tournament. Four players have at least 10 goals (Max Rosa, Brodie Morris, Brady Burkeen and Nate Wyatt), five players have at least eight assists (Rosa, Morris, Burkeen, Wyatt and Kellen Crouch), and elite goalie Hank Fronza has 41 saves, 11 goals allowed and seven shutouts.
