The distance of a soccer goal from the crossbar to the ground is eight feet. If they were eight feet, two inches, the University Heights Academy Blazers would be playing in Sunday’s All A Classic State Soccer Championship match.
Instead, Oneida Baptist Institute won Saturday’s semifinal match in the penalty kick round to claim a 2-1 win in Louisville.
The Blazers saw two second half shots carom off the top bar and stay out of the goal, punctuating a frustrating night where UHA outshot OBI 15-8.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the second half effort. We just didn’t get rewarded for it tonight,” UHA coach Josh Nichols said. “But it’s a lesson learned and maybe it’ll pay off next time.”
OBI (12-1), a Southern Baptist boarding school located in Clay County, used the same formula against UHA that was used in a 4-0 quarterfinal win over Todd County Central earlier in the day – use its quickness to create offense and use its size and physical play on defense.
Enrique Gabardo got loose in the 36th minute and poked home his tenth goal of the season to stake the Mountaineers to a 1-0 lead that stood at the half.
UHA got some good looks early in the second half and was inches away from tying the match when Cal Givens lofted a long shot that struck the crossbar and bounced straight down but did not cross the goal line.
Givens would provide the answer less than a minute later when another long shot safely found the net to tie the match at 1-1.
UHA’s second fateful experience with the crossbar came with 11 minutes left when Clayton Lester lofted a direct kick that hit the bar as OBI goalie Jason Fan jumped to deflect it. The ball caromed to Hayden Hunt, whose header was on target but snuffed by Fan who recovered in time to make the stop.
With the match tied at 1-1 after regulation, tournament rules moved it directly to a penalty kick round.
Jonathon Fan, Amadeus Martin, and Hero Khajohnsupawatchara each poked home their kicks while UHA’s first two shooters were denied on saves by Jason Fan.
Logan Miller answered for UHA with a strong, low shot that found the back of the net, but Gabardo ended the match with OBI’s fourth goal of the PK round.
“I thought we controlled the game and had the momentum with Cal’s goal. It’s what you wanted, but the shots just didn’t fall for us,” Nichols said.
After a somewhat sluggish first half, the UHA coach was pleased with what he saw after halftime.
“There were some parts of the first half I wasn’t thrilled with. Maybe (it was) the effort. They stepped around us a few times and took some balls that we should have played. But I challenged them at halftime, and got the response I wanted in a big way,” he said. “I was happy with the way the midfield played, particularly in the second half. Ryan Luckey took on the responsibility with their best player, who’s a really good player, and put him in his pocket in the second half.”
UHA was making its first All A semifinal appearance in five years and looking for its first trip to the championship match.
With a record of 10-5, the Blazers return home Tuesday to play Hopkinsville in a match that will determine the top seed in the 8th District Tournament next month.
“We have a lot of things to be proud of. We’re hurting right now, but we’ll be ready for Tuesday when Hopkinsville comes. My words to them afterward were ‘You wash it away.’ We’re chasing other things now. We need to clinch the top seed in the district,” Nichols said.
For the Blazers, Harlow Hampton and Cal Givens were named to the All A State Tournament Team.
The Blazers moved into the semifinals earlier in the day when they dispatched Prestonsburg 4-0.
Griffin McCoy got the Blazers on the board in the fifth minute off a feed from Hayden Hunt and Lincoln Hauret tacked on his seventh goal of the season with 6:53 left in the half.
Hunt hit the scoring column to begin the second half scoring off an assist from Logan Miller and later added another goal. He has 14 goals for the Blazers while McCoy has scored 11.
Coverage of the University Heights Academy Blazers is sponsored by Planters Bank.
