The rivalry between Daviess County and Owensboro was alive and well Thursday night during the Panthers’ 2-0 victory.
On a brisk evening in front of a packed house at Dale Poole Field at Shifley Park, it was the Panthers who threatened early and often, testing resilient OHS goalie Landon Black.
Through the first 12 minutes, DC had multiple shots on goal, but their best early opportunity occurred in the 13th minute. Junior Jack Lamber connected on an outlet pass to junior Saw Mu in the right-side corner. Mu beat his defender and fed the crease, but his teammate’s shot was blocked by a dive from Black, and the following attempt soared high.
From there, the Panthers continued to dominate possession and peppered Black with shots, but the senior prevailed.
“Landon played really well and kept his team in it,” Daviess County head coach Doug Sandifer said. “I wish we could have followed up on some shots he bobbled, but he did fantastic in both halves of keeping the shutout as long as they did.”
Owensboro’s best attempt in the first half came in the 38th minute. Black made a save in front of his goal and the rebound made its way to sophomore Jackson Sigler. Beating his defender with a fake, Sigler dribbled down the field and muscled his way into opposing territory. He fed the ball to the left side, but the pass sailed past the open attacker in front of the net.
Despite Daviess County having six shots on goal compared to Owensboro’s two, both teams entered half scoreless.
“I told them at half to play simple,” Owensboro head coach Ryan Haley said. “We were trying to dribble past a lot of guys and we attracted a lot of flies. And when you draw a lot of flies, it means people are open. We have to do a better job of finding feet — connecting the ball to our teammates, creating width to spread out the defense.”
Haley’s plan worked and despite missing three starters in the second half, the offense looked calm and revitalized, posting five shots on goal.
Yet, despite everything the Red Devils threw at Daviess County, freshman goalie Harrison Dunaway stood tall.
“Harrison played well,” Sandifer said. ” He made the handful of saves he had to make. He’s playing with more confidence than most freshmen would at this point. He’s four games into his first varsity season and I have been pleased with the way he’s played so far.”
Not even a minute into the second half, the Panthers were once again in control, but similar to the first half, Black prevailed. From there, both teams took turns exchanging opportunities, but neither connected and the possibility of a scoreless tie was drawing near.
Unfazed despite all of their missed opportunities, the Panthers finally broke through in the 71st minute. With a scrum in front of Owensboro’s goal, it was Daviess County’s senior Lukas Humphrey who sneaked it past Black with a header.
Less than two minutes later, senior Carter Payne doubled the Panthers’ lead and iced the game with a strike off a set piece to beat Black. The Red Devils had a few opportunities to respond, but their free kick with less than 5 minutes left hit the post. In the last minute, they had another opportunity but were unable to take advantage of the scrum.
“I thought it was an 80-minute solid performance,” Sandifer said. “Maybe a few 5-minute stints here or there were we were sluggish or the tanks were empty for some of the guys. But I was really happy with our overall performance.”
Apollo Vs. Owensboro Catholic
Colt Anderson’s two penalty kicks powered Apollo to a 2-0 shutout over Owensboro Catholic. The Eagles’ Luke Mattingly recorded two saves and finished with a clean sheet. For the Aces, goalie Ben Dawson had two saves of his own.
