The last time the UHA Blazers and the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons hooked up on the pitch, the Blazers took a hard-fought 2-1 win in the regional finals, on their way to a regional championship.
While the stakes were not as high for the two teams in the season opener in Madisonville Tuesday night, you could not have told it by the way the two teams went at it on the field.
The Maroons got two goals in the first five minutes and then made the lead stand up as Madisonville claimed a tough 4-2 win over the Blazers at Donley Field in Madisonville.
The Maroons got off to a fast start in this one. Gavin Quinn took a pass in the middle of the field and found the net just one minute into the match to put Madisonville up 1-0.
Just 3 1/2 minutes later, Nash Tapp launched a rocket from the left side that ripped into the back of the net, extending the Maroon lead to 2-0.
But just as it appeared as if the Maroons might run away and hide, UHA found its footing. For much of the next 20 minutes the Blazers controlled the flow of play.
UHA ended up with a couple of really good looks at the net, including one that deflected off the left post, but could not find a way to cut into the lead.
The Blazers broke through at the 24:00 mark when Cal Givens converted a penalty kick, trimming the Maroon lead to 2-1.
Madisonville quickly grabbed the momentum back less than 2 minutes later when Aidan Knight scored off a corner kick to push the lead back out to two goals at 3-1.
The teams came out of the break with the intensity level
ratcheted up a notch or two. Both teams had their opportunities but could not find the net as the match went to a hydration break midway through the second half.
Coming out of the water break, things quickly got interesting. Graham Conrad drilled a shot into the right side of the net to bring the Blazers to within 3-2 at 61:40.
The play of the night for the Maroons came at 74:15 when Yehoshua Golightly stole the ball in front of the net and beat the UHA keeper to push the lead back out to 4-2 and it turned out to be a huge play in the end.
UHA found the net inside the final minute to close to within 4-3 on Graham Conrad’s second goal of the night, this one off an assist from his brother Jack. But, the clock would run out before the Blazers could get one last good look at the goal for the chance to tie.
Madisonville (1-0) is back at home Thursday when the Maroons host the Christian County Tigers for the first time.
UHA (0-1) will play its home opener Thursday night when the Blazers host Foundation Christian.
