The Madisonville-North Hopkins Lady Maroons extended their 7th District championship string Tuesday night — but not without some anxious moments.
Twice Hopkins County Central took the lead, including 2-1 on Lilly Armour’s second goal of the night with 29:04 left in the match.
But the Lady Maroons (11-6-1) drew even when Brylee Baumgardner found the net with 21:27 to go. That came after the ball was sent back into the box three times.
The teams then traded near-misses for almost 20 minutes before a foul near the box gave Madisonville an opportunity inside the last 2 minutes.
Kailey Barber cashed in for the Lady Maroons by blasting a shot into the left side of the net. That gave Madisonville its first lead of the night at 3-2 with only 1:44 remaining.
Madisonville outshot Hopkins Central 23-10 in the contest.
But the Lady Storm (12-7-1) set an early tone that they were coming for Madisonville’s district title streak.
Armour’s shot from the right side just got across the line to put Hopkins Central up 1-0 just 4:29 into the match.
Madison Hill got Madisonville even with 14:33 left before halftime with a blast from straight away from 25 yards out.
Armour got help from Mary Starks to put the Lady Storm back in front 2-1.
But in the end, Madisonville accepted its seventh-straight 7th District championship trophy by scoring the final two goals of the night.
Macy Wright had an assist for Madisonville.
Kaytee Parish made nine saves for the Lady Maroons.
Savannah Barnett had 12 stops for Hopkins Central.
Both teams advance to the 2nd Region tournament, which will also be held at Donley Field, next week.
