Daviess County won their 10th regional championship in a row after beating Owensboro 2-0 in the championship match. Both teams had multiple players be named to the 3rd Region All-Tournament team. The players included:
- Denis Juma- OHS
- Emmanuel Lichi- OHS
- Miles Bauer- OHS
- Connor Johnson- DCHS
- Sam Glover- DCHS
- Carter Payne- DCHS
- Lukas Humphrey- DCHS
The Panthers struck first in the 4th minute of the game. After a freekick by the sideline was whipped into the box by Cameron Bell, Carter Payne connected with a volley to make the score 1-0 early on.
Payne doubled his tally from an assist by Bell halfway through the first half. He scored with another volley that was blasted past the goalkeeper. The goal would go on to be the game winner.
The Panthers held possession for most of the first half while the Red Devils defense played to keep the score stagnant while feeding the attack for a counter. OHS had multiple counter attacks that led to looks on goal, but only a small number ended in shots.
The Red Devils flipped the script in the second half and held most of possession for the rest of the game. The Red Devils were relentless in their offensive attacks in search of a way to come back. They had multiple shots and even stopped DCHS from taking any shots in the second half. OHS head coach Ryan Haley said if the team had played like that in the first half then the result could have been different.
“I thought if we played the first half like we did the second then we’d be in a different position right now,” he said. “In the first half it took us a little to wake up, but I thought we played a really good game and I’m proud of our guys. We left a couple guys open and they scored in the first four minutes. I think the guys were still waking up.”
The Panthers defense were more than ready for the challenge, however. DCHS head coach Doug Sandifer said the team’s defense has been solid all season long.
“We don’t always play pretty, but defensively, down the stretch of the season we have been a very tough team to score on,” he said. “Of course, Connor gets a lot of that credit, but the guys in front of him are not diving in and giving up open shots. Defensively we’ve just turned into a really solid team.”
They held off OHS for the second half and preserved their clean sheet to win the championship. This marks the 10th regional championship in a row for the Panthers and Sandifer said that the program takes a lot of pride in the accomplishment.
“It’s something we take a lot of pride in and talk about with each team because each team is different,” he said. “You’ve got to remind them that last year’s team is not here anymore and you’ve got to go win yours. These guys bought into it and I’m just really happy for them and happy overall.”
The Panthers continue on to the first round of the state tournament against South Warren on October 16.
