Three goals in just over 10 minutes put University Heights Academy in control, and the Blazers went on to blank Caldwell County 5-0 Monday in the 2nd Region soccer tournament at the Stadium of Champions in Hopkinsville.
UHA (15-7) will take on Webster County (9-10-2) in Tuesday’s 7:15 p.m. semifinal game. Webster turned back Trigg County 5-2 on Monday.
Henderson County (14-3-4) plays Madisonville-North Hopkins (16-6-1) in Tuesday’s first semifinal at 5:30.
Clayton Lester had a hat trick for the 8th District champion Blazers, who built a 4-0 halftime lead against Caldwell.
Lester netted the first goal of the contest with 30:46 left in the first half.
Griffin McCoy scored off a Logan Miller assist just 1:05 later to make it 2-0.
Lester’s second goal came at the 20:19 mark, following a corner kick. Hayden Hunt picked up an assist on the play as the Blazers went up 3-0.
Hunt got a goal of his own at the 15:23 mark to send UHA to halftime with its 4-0 advantage.
The Blazers scored an early goal in the second half when Lester blasted in a long shot just 1:10 into the final 40 minutes. Lincoln Hauret assisted on that score to make it 5-0.
Caldwell (4-12-2) kept UHA off the scoreboard the rest of the way, but the Tigers could never get in the scoring column themselves.
University Heights held a 31-4 advantage in shots in the contest.
Grayson Harris recorded 16 saves in the Caldwell net.
Eli Finch had to make just one save for the Blazers.
UHA has won its last three matchups with Caldwell. The Blazers lead the all-time series 16-7-1.
Tuesday’s winners will advance to the regional championship game Wednesday at 6:00.
