University Heights Academy relieved a program burden three weeks ago when they defeated Henderson County for what was believed to be the first time in school history.
They unloaded another burden Thursday night when they defeated the Colonels again, this time in the championship of the Second Region Soccer Tournament in Henderson.
Cal Givens bent in a shot from 25 yards with 3:21 left in double-overtime to ignite a celebration and give the Blazers their first region championship since 2011.
WATCH CAL GIVENS’ GAME-WINNING SHOT IN THIS MAX’S MOMENT
The shot was the result of a free kick following a Henderson County foul on Cadence Gibson as he was advancing the ball near the goal box.
Givens said the long-range shot with some bend was something he felt confident in making.
“I’m pretty good at whipping it in, so I was just trying to like aim like towards the right side and just kind of whip it in towards the left,” he said. “I knew I was capable of making that shot.”
Givens’ game-winner also didn’t surprise his coach, Josh Nichols, who has taken the Blazers to the region championship twice in his three seasons at the school
“He’s been doing it since the summer. He did it at camp. He did it at the Bluegrass State Games. He hasn’t missed a penalty kick all season, and then he steps up and hits, you know, the biggest free kick of his life, and the biggest free kick of my life,” he said.
The game-winner was UHA’s lone shot in either overtime period as the Blazers found the sledding tough against a Henderson County defense that was allowing just two goals a contest.
The Colonels appeared close to winning their fourth region title in six years in the first overtime when a foul just outside the box gave Miles Pryor a free kick straight on that just missed high and landed on top of the net.
Henderson County controlled the tempo to start the match, getting up eight shots before UHA’s first. Blazer goalie Hayden Fitzsimmons made a pair of diving saves in the first 17 minutes to keep the match scoreless, part of a seven-save effort.
UHA thought it scored first with 17:25 left in the first half when Hayden Hunt’s header off a corner kick hit the post and bounced up the goal line, where Henderson’s Alex Bewley kicked it clear. While the Blazers felt the ball had crossed the line, Henderson immediately played it out, and Nichols said afterward that a couple of his players told him they didn’t feel the ball had crossed the goal line.
The Blazers dented the scoreboard first with 5:34 left when Hunt’s header off a throw-in landed in front of the box. As Jack Cavanah advanced, a Henderson defender collided with the goalie, which allowed Cavanah to boot home the first goal of the match.
“I wasn’t thrilled with the start. I thought their tempo was a lot higher than ours to begin the game for the first 20 to 25 minutes or so. We kind of grew into it a little bit, and obviously, the goal is huge to settle you down and make you feel comfortable,” Nichols said.
Despite Henderson County outshooting UHA 9-3 in the first half, the Blazers held a 1-0 lead at the break.
“I felt we were in a good spot. We were playing really good soccer,” Henderson coach Benson Pryor said. “There’s not very many sports that are like soccer in the sense that you can play like that and then you still lose. “Our guys were hungry. They believed it. Even after the one goal, I still felt like our guys were in the game.”
Henderson wasted no time getting the equalizer in the second half as Alex Bewley’s shot less than three minutes in grazed off the outstretched hands of Fitzsimmons and was knocked home by a charging Zehn Hazelwood.
With Henderson controlling the midfield in the second half, shots were hard to come by with Hazelwood missing a shot high with six minutes left, and the Blazers were unable to convert a corner kick with 30 seconds left that sent the match to sudden-death overtime.
“UHA is fantastic, so we tried to do a couple of things to make life hard on them,” Pryor said. “The first goal came off a throw-in. They did a good job. We kind of went to sleep. And then the second one was a great, just a fantastic finish. You can’t take anything away from that shot.”
After losing to Bishop Brossart in the All A Classic State Tournament in a match that slipped away from them in the second half, the Blazers have done a better job of closing out matches. They have won eight of ten matches with the only two losses coming to Hopkinsville – once in the regular season and once in the district championship.
UHA won all three of its region tournament matches by identical 2-1 scores.
“There was some pressure (on us) during district week, and I think we felt that,” Nichols said. “I think after Monday’s win over Trigg County (in the opener), it was a little closer than we wanted it to be, but I think it took some pressure off. We just kind of played to win and didn’t worry about how it looked. We just wanted to get goals and focused on winning.”
Thursday’s region title is the fourth for the UHA boys’ program and the first since 2011. Ironically, that Blazer team saw their season end at the hands of Henderson County in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.
The following year, the KHSAA realigned soccer regions to mirror baseball, softball, and basketball. It’s the first region championship for UHA since the region expansion after championship appearances in 2020 and 2024.
UHA also won region titles in 2002 and 2008. The coach of those two Blazers teams was Michael Parker, who guided the Lady Blazers to the region title on Wednesday.
UHA’s region title in 2002 was the school’s first and came one year before Nichols began his head coaching career at Trigg County, where he would win 192 games in 19 seasons. The region title is the first for Nichols after three previous unsuccessful trips to the championship.
“It’s been a long time coming. I always wanted to get it with Trigg, you know, I have a little regret about a couple that got away there. But I’m so happy to get it with this group of guys. I think the world of them. Had we lost tonight, it wouldn’t diminish the way I feel about them at all. They’re just a great group and I’m so happy for them.”
University Heights Academy (18-6) will play in the state soccer tournament for the first time in 14 years on Monday at 7:00 against Third Region champion Owensboro at Rash Stadium.
The Red Devils are 18-2-2 with their losses coming to Fourth Region schools Bowling Green (1-0) and South Warren (3-2). Their ties were against Murray and Warrren Central.
UHA and Owensboro have met three times in the past 12 years, with the Red Devils winning twice, including a 10-0 win over the Blazers in 2021. The schools tied 0-0 in 2013.
UHA’s girls will play at Daviess County on Tuesday at 7:00.
