Daviess County won their 10th District title in a row after beating Owensboro 2-0.
Both teams had multiple players make the All-District team. This year’s Co-District Players of the Year are Daviess County’s Connor Johnson and Owensboro’s Sang Thang. The list of the 2023 All-District team included:
- Arlo Johnson- OHS
- Jack Quisenberry- DCHS
- Joseph Kurtz- OCHS
- Cameron Bell- DCHS
- Peter Saang- OHS
- Ra Ne Son- AHS
- Brody Martin- OCHS
- Lukas Humphrey- DCHS
- Hayden Hill- AHS
- Romer Payne- OHS
- Sam Glover- DCHS
OHS had multiple opportunities on goal in the opening minutes of the match. DCHS mounted a counterattack that ended with Carter Payne threading a pass to Sam Glover who scored the first goal five minutes into the match.
DCHS fought hard on defense to maintain their lead. On offense, they had multiple opportunities to extend their lead. The Red Devils defense kept them in the game as they pulled off multiple stops and saves against an aggressive DCHS offense. On offense, OHS couldn’t find many passes close to DCHS’s penalty box. Panthers head coach Doug Sandifer said the defense tonight did a particularly good job of shutting down their forward runs and stopping them when they could get into dangerous areas.
“We did a better job of keeping them in front of us,” he said. “Probably the most dangerous chances they had were some of their free kicks that we didn’t clear cleanly. You’re going to give up some looks to Owensboro because they’re a good team. It’s trying to control what kind of looks you give up to them. I felt the guys around our box did a good job of being disciplined for over 80 minutes and not giving up really dangerous opportunities. Sometimes a good look is scary.”
They nearly scored at the end of the first half when Saw Mu almost scored a bicycle kick. The Panthers took a corner, and the ball was headed over to Mu who was open enough to make the acrobatic attempt. The ball was cleared off the goal line and that kept the score at 1-0 at halftime.
DCHS scored five minutes into the second half when Gabe Sandefur played Glover in behind the back line. Glover passed the ball into the net past the goalkeeper to make it 2-0. Glover’s performance tonight gave the Panthers the boost they needed to find the back of the net.
After this goal, the Owensboro offense seemed to lose some of its steam. They pushed on and attempted to claw back into the game, but head coach Ryan Haley took note of the lack of motivation.
“A lot of this game is about belief in life,” he said. “I think after that second goal all belief just went out the window. As the clock was ticking down, we didn’t hustle to try and put one in the net we just kind of conceded. We had to win those 50/50 balls as well. I think the boys are going to learn a lesson from it because we won that battle last match.”
The match ended 2-0 and Sandifer was pleased with the overall performance and composure of the younger players on the squad. The idea of winning the title for the 10th time in a row did not get into their heads as Sandifer had feared.
“Owensboro is a good team and we’re so young in some spots because we graduated so many last year,” he said. “I’m always worried about these guys thinking just that jersey is going to win them a district. We try to convince them every year that you’ve got to go earn these things. Ten in a row is hard to even wrap my head around right now, but it’s something we’re really proud of and something we want to keep going as long as we can.”
