The Lady Panthers used a strong second half to secure their spot in the 9th District Championship, defeating Owensboro 5-1.
Despite dealing with a little bit of a leg injury, senior Steeley Walker put one in the back of the net to give Daviess County an early 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.
The Lady Panthers were able to expand on their lead minutes later with a goal from freshman Kate McCain, making it a 2-0 lead in the 12th minute.
Owensboro wasn’t going down without a fight though, earning some good opportunities offensively with counter attacks.
However, they were unable to convert and headed into the second half down 2-0. But Owensboro kept battling and a usual suspect in sophomore Sydney Lovett helped put them on the board in the second half.
Lovett drew a penalty kick in the 47th minute and was able to convert, cutting their deficit to 2-1. With a newfound fire under them the Lady Devils ramped up the intensity.
However, a turn of events in Daviess County’s offensive third quickly swung momentum once again.
After it seemed that the referees had called for a goal kick, it was quickly switched to a corner and it led to a goal for junior Reagan Chinn to make it a 3-1 game in the 55th minute.
From there, the flood gates opened. Walker added her second goal of the day in the 64th minute and McCain grabbed her second a minute later to make it a 5-1 Lady Panthers lead.
This was enough to take the wind out of Owensboro’s sails, as Daviess County came away with the 5-1 win and a spot in the 9th District Championship.
The Lady Panthers controlled possession for the majority of the game, which allowed them to earn so many offensive opportunities.
Walker was on the receiving end of a few of those opportunities thanks to her teammates, joining McCain with a pair of goals on the day as well.
“My teammates played me really good balls and I just thought they worked hard to play inside so I had to work hard to finish them,” Walker said.
Head Coach Michael Lovett felt that the Lady Devils played well in the first half and were strong to start the second, but just came up short against Daviess County.
“We had a gameplan that we executed fairly well in the first half,” Lovett said. “We came out in the second half and were really inspired. I thought that when it was 2-1 and we had momentum, we were just playing for that tie and overtime… but at the end of the day they executed better than we did. They were defensively stronger than we were and that was the difference.”
The loss ends Owensboro’s season as they close out the year with an overall record of 9-8, marking the Lady Devils first winning season in eight years.
“We set a lot of team records as far as goals and assists and things like that, so it was very productive,” Lovett said. “I feel we’ve turned the corner as a program as far as being overlooked… When teams are taking notice of you, then you’re doing your job. If they’re looking over you to the next game, then you’re not. So I’m glad that we’re not being overlooked anymore and I really credit the senior class for leading us through that this year and getting us to our next level.”
Meanwhile Daviess County will look to avenge its two regular season loss to Owensboro Catholic in the 9th District Championship game at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday.
“Obviously Owensboro Catholic has beaten us a couple times,” Head Coach David Sandifer said. “If the girls come out and play the way they’re capable of playing, we can give them a game. They’re a good team and we’ll see how it goes.”
