As Coach Michael Parker told his team after their state soccer match Tuesday night, only one team is really going to be happy at the end of the season, and that is the one that wins the state championship. An outstanding 2025 soccer season came to a disappointing end for the University Heights Academy Lady Blazers Tuesday evening in Owensboro as they fell to the Daviess County Lady Panthers 2-0 in the opening round of the KHSAA girls’ state soccer tournament.
Senior Mary Evelyn Wiman scored two first-half goals for the Lady Panthers, and then the Daviess County defense made the lead stand up, as they advance to Saturday’s state quarterfinals.
Wiman scored her first goal at the 8:45 mark when she took a pass from Bailey Brown on a run down the left side and sent a left-footed shot to the right-hand side of the goal, just out of the reach of UHA keeper Madison Williams, to give Daviess County an early 1-0 lead.
The Lady Panthers would control the flow of play throughout much of the opening half but the Lady Blazers got solid midfield and back line defensive play from Cecilia Langhi, Alyssa Grise, and Ann Hampton to turn Daviess County away. Madison Williams also gave UHA some big plays in goal.
The match stayed 1-0 until Wiman struck again late in the half. At the 32:13 mark, Wiman broke open on a run down the left-hand side of the field after intercepting a pass and made an almost identical shot to the one she scored earlier in the half as the Daviess County lead grew to 2-0.
UHA’s best chance in the half came at 38:30 when the Lady Blazers got off a header, coming off a corner kick. However, Daviess County goalie Kaelin Labhart came up with an incredible save to keep the ball out of the net and send the match into the break at 2-0 in favor of the Lady Panthers.
Shots on goal were even in the first 40 minutes, with each team managing to get off five shots.
After Daviess County seemed to be in control during the first half, it was the Lady Blazers that seemed to be in charge during the second 40 minutes.
The Lady Blazers looked to have a great chance to cut into the lead at the 47:00 when the Daviess County keeper came out to take a play on the ball after a Lady Blazer shot, leaving an empty net behind her. While it appeared that the goalie never controlled the ball, officials ruled that Labhart did have control enough to stop the play and the attack.
Kendall Hancock, who was held in check for much of the first half, had three good looks at the net over the next 22 minutes but just could not get a shot to find the back of the net as Daviess County was able to keep the lead at two goals.
The Lady Blazers had one last opportunity to get back in the match at the 71:45 mark when Audrey Perry was given a direct kick from just outside the front of the box. Perry’s shot just missed, and that would be the last serious threat of the match for the Lady Blazers.
The final minutes of the match would tick off the clock, and the careers of a very good class of seniors would come to an end, and the emotions began to roll as tears flowed freely along the UHA sideline.
Both teams ended up with 10 shots for the match.
Madison Williams finished with 7 saves for University Heights.
UHA finishes the season with a record of 19-3-1. The Lady Blazers won the All A Region, the 8th District, and 2nd Region titles during the 2025 season.
