The clock struck midnight for Daviess County on Thursday, ending their Cinderella run after falling 5-0 to Louisville Collegiate in the boys’ soccer state tournament semifinals.
“We knew Collegiate was very strong and it would be a mountain to climb today,” Daviess County head coach Doug Sandifer said. “We hung with them, and I was OK with where we were first half. The second half got away from us, and it’s unfortunate.”
Kicking off in the rain, the Panthers started the game running a shell defensive formation, which worked wonders for the majority of the first half. In the 29th minute, the Titans’ Alex Shannon fed Thomas Weinrich a pass into the box, where he headed a shot in for a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes into the second half, the Titans’ Andrew Caborn doubled his team’s lead, scoring from almost 30 feet out on a shot that Panthers goalie Harrison Dunaway had no chance at stopping. That goal forced Sandifer to mix up his formations.
“When they scored their second goal, we had to come out of our shell a little bit and open things up,” Sandifer said. “That created more chances for them. They are a team that is very hard to find any flaws to go at them.”
Collegiate picked apart the Panthers’ new defensive formation, scoring three more goals down the stretch thanks to Blaise Saufnauer, Bennett MacGregor, and Max Shelley.
The Panthers finished with five shots, two of them on goal, and Dunaway recorded four saves. Collegiate recorded 19 shots, nine of them on goal, while keeper Crew Hartlage finished with two saves.
Despite the disappointing ending, the season was a rousing success, with DC finishing 15-6-3. After losing in the 9th District title game, Daviess County responded by winning their 11th consecutive 3rd Region championship before advancing to the Final Four of the state tournament.
“It is kind of unbelievable we made it here seeing how the regular season went,” Sandifer said. “It took us a long time to find cohesion. Obviously changing the formations around helped us a lot in the postseason. We’re a team that figured out a way to play to get results in elimination games and that got us here. I am really proud of them for doing that. I don’t think many people would have picked us a month or two into the season.”
Thursday marked the final game for the Panthers’ six seniors: Lukas Humphrey, Jack Quisenberry, Palmer Templeton, Dylan Jones, Cameron Bell, and Carter Payne. Sandifer said they were essential in the team’s success over the last few years.
“They topped off their senior year being a part of some really good teams coming into this and some teams that have made some good runs,” Sandifer said. “They are good kids first and foremost and that is what I am most proud of. Four of them were our captains and they led this team. But all six of them are fantastic kids and are going to do well in life. That’s the most important thing.”
