Boys soccer in the 3rd Region still belongs to Daviess County. Though Apollo threatened to upend the Panthers, DC got a pair of late goals to edge out a 2-1 win and claim their eighth consecutive region title.
DC outscored Apollo 16-0 in three previous meetings this season, including a 10-0 route in the 9th District championship last week. But it was the Eagles who had the Panthers on the ropes for much of Thursday’s win-or-go-home match played at Shifley Park.
In the 10th minute, Apollo’s Harrison Bowman curved a corner kick into the box, where Long Berly punched a shot through a crowd for the early lead.
Then the Eagles dropped their defense back and made DC work.
“That’s what a regional final is going to be like,” Daviess County Head Coach Doug Sandifer said. “Previous scores don’t matter. We tried to convince the boys of that. I don’t think we came out and played overlooking or looking past them. Apollo got an early goal and they had a lot of numbers back behind the ball and made things very difficult. It was just a battle. We’re fortunate to get the two that we did.”
The Panthers pounded away, largely controlling possession for the rest of the half. But Apollo’s defense was simply too tight. Most of the shots from short range were deflected and cleared, and the ones that got through were gobbled up by keeper Stevan Teran.
“We were getting decent looks,” Sandifer said. “In the first half, we were settling for some balls that we didn’t need to. When we would get in behind them we were serving to the keeper. It’s tough to get around and find seams.”
The second half was much of the same as the minutes ticked away and Apollo crept toward a big upset victory.
The equalizer came in the 58th minute. DC gained possession just outside the box. After a couple of touch passes, Andrew Alexander got the ball to the foot of Hayden Boswell, who rifled a shot to the back of the net.
Twelve minutes later, Boswell found Sam Glover in the box for the go-ahead goal.
“We talked to them at halftime about some things we could look to do and try and get in behind that crowded defense,” Sandifer said. “The first goal came from something we talked about and the second one Sam created an opportunity, and you have to look to do that against 7-8-9 guys.”
Apollo Head Coach Ryan Poirier said his team left it all on the field and he was proud of how hard they pushed the Panthers.
“Credit to Daviess County. We gave him two chances and they finished two chances,” he said. “I thought everybody played great. I don’t think we had a bad game. I think it’s just, that’s the way it went.”
Despite needing late goals to survive, Sandifer said he was happy with his team’s effort against a gritty opponent.
“I don’t have any complaints about the way we played,” he said. “We didn’t play poorly, Apollo just played very well and their game plan was very difficult to crack.”
The Panthers have now won eight in a row and improve to 19-1-4 on the season, with the only loss coming Aug. 21 against Elizabethtown.
Daviess County will host South Warren in the first round of the state tournament. That game is expected to take place at 7 p.m. Monday but could be played Tuesday if necessary.
