The Panther’s biggest challenge in their 9-1 victory Thursday evening wasn’t overcoming a pesky Apollo squad, nor was it beating Eagles’ goalie Luke Mattingly who stonewalled them in the first half and finished with six saves. It was outlasting the week-long heat advisory, with temperatures reaching the low 90s at kickoff.
Yet, Daviess County head coach Doug Sandifer said his team didn’t even acknowledge the weather during their gameplan.
“Everyone’s been dealing with it, and we’ve been practicing in it,” Sandifer said. “The kids are pretty acclimated to it at this point. So we didn’t put any emphasis on the heat. We have subs, we can run them in if you get tired, and you just play ball.”
Daviess County threatened first in the fourth minute, but Cameron Bell’s shot was blocked by Mattingly. The Panthers dominated time of possession to start the half, but the Eagles were able to create some scoring opportunities. Yet they were unable to capitalize.
In the 15th minute, Daviess County broke the scoreless tie, with Bell finding Taylor Hoak, who was able to beat Mattingly. Twenty minutes later, Silas Goebel fed Bell for the first of his four goals. Two minutes later, Apollo responded with Utukufu Lukalula feeding M’Munga Juma for the goal as Apollo entered the half trailing 2-1.
Mattingly kept Daviess County from blowing the game wide open early.
“Luke played a really good game. He made three or four saves to keep the game 2-1 at the half,” Apollo head coach Nikos Agisilaou said. “We relied on him to do that the entire second half. He can’t make 30 saves. We need to make sure we clean it up. He can’t be perfect and we can’t allow him to be left on an island. He transitioned to goalie. This is his fourth game in goal, and he’s done a good job.”
Apollo entered the second half looking to keep the game close but was unable to repeat their first-half performance. In the 46th minute, Bell found himself alone versus Mattingly – who he was able to juke out for his second goal. Two minutes later Saw Mu made it 4-1 for the Panthers.
From there Daviess County continued to pour it on, scoring in the 51st, 52nd 63rd, 69th, and 77th minute before the game was called due to mercy rule. Bell was the star of the show, finishing with four goals and two assists.
“Cam has a motor,” Sandifer said. “He doesn’t close his mouth out there and is constantly communicating, but his effort is always there. He just has a nose for the goal, he just wants to score and set people up.”
Daviess County now looks to a double-header on Saturday, and Sandifer wants to see his team bring their second-half performance into the weekend.
Owensboro 8, Owensboro Catholic 0
Fighting off the blistering heat, the Red Devils shutout the Aces 8-0 behind Ryan Sovar’s hat trick. Jackson Sigler added two goals and an assist while Peter Mbayo recorded a team-high three assists. Defensively, Owensboro prevented Owensboro Catholic from any shots on goal.
“I thought we played a good game tonight,” Owensboro head coach Ryan Haley said. “The emphasis of moving the ball quickly with minimal dribbling has been the emphasis over the past few games. I believe we are getting better at letting the ball do the work. Tonight we moved it quickly from side to side, attacking the flanks, and finding the Ryan Sovar at the top of the formation. This was a big team win.”
