Though they found themselves in a surprising two-goal deficit at the half, the Daviess County boys’ soccer team chipped away and eventually came out with a 4-2 road win over Owensboro Catholic on Wednesday.
The Panthers (8-0-2, 4-0 9th District) had some early pressure but couldn’t connect on a handful of chances, and the Aces (3-4, 0-4) took advantage late in the half with a pair of goals from Joe Fusco.
The junior midfielder scored his first goal after stealing a pass and finding the net with 5:45 on the clock. Two minutes later he scored again, this time off an assist from Lance Dickens.
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For a full photo gallery from the game, click here.
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Daviess County head coach Doug Sandifer said the Panthers didn’t come out with the right amount of focus, and it cost them early.
“I didn’t think we made good decisions when we won the ball in the back,” Sandifer said. “We were making poor passes and poor decisions on where those passes needed to go. Fusco was Johnny-on-the-spot and out-efforted us to a couple of balls and deserved to score.”
Sandifer said while his team wasn’t playing sharp, Catholic played organized and earned their halftime lead.
“I didn’t think we matched their intensity by any means and they took advantage of the chances they got,” he said. “Without a doubt they deserved to have the lead at halftime based on the way they played and the way we played.”
After some mid-game adjustments, the Panthers showed more speed and drive in the second period. Sandifer said they were finally able to find openings, get on the end of crosses and finish their chances in front of the goal.
The first score for DC came from Hayden Boswell, and Jacob Boling scored the equalizer off an assist from Hunter Clark with 24:55 to play. The teams were locked into a tie for the next 15 minutes before the Panthers went in front.
Clark scored each of the last two goals — with an assist each from Declan Armistead and Jackson Goddard — in the final 10 minutes of action to help the Panthers escape with a victory.
“We didn’t rush or panic,” Sandifer said. “We chipped away one at a time and got the result at the end that we needed. It certainly wasn’t our best effort we’ve had this year. We weren’t dialed in to doing our jobs correctly in the first half. The focus just wasn’t there.”
Daviess County will return to action Saturday when they travel to Elizabethtown. Owensboro Catholic is off until Monday, when they play at Hart County.
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2019 soccer coverage is presented by Worth Insurance Group.
