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| St. Henry Claims 9th Region Soccer Title in Shootout Over Cov Cath |
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| Bryan Burke - The River City News |
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St. Henry turned in a lionhearted performance against Covington Catholic, winning in an overtime shootout, 3-2, to claim the 9th Region Boys Soccer Championship at the Highlands soccer field on Saturday night.
“This time of the season, you either play an entire game, or you're going home,” said St. Henry head coach Steve Hahn. “We understood we had to fight and grind it out and that was the way it was going to be for the rest of the season.”
The game had a kind of old world feel to it as the calmer crowd sat up on the grassy hillside and the crazed student sections packed in below. Both sides were spirited and raucous, but it was the Crusaders supporters that ended up flooding the field upon the dramatic finale when Austin Langen blasted his penalty kick into the net.
For much of the game it looked like it was only a matter of time before Cov Cath would squeeze the remaining air out of the Crusaders' chances and roll to win. Up 2-0 at halftime and 3-1 well into the second half, the action had a sense of expectancy that it would continue to go the Colonels way. When Calvin Neltner slimmed the margin to 3-2 with a goal, the door of opportunity cracked open just enough to turn the Crusaders energy from defeated to desperate and a new rigor came over the St. Henry players and their fans.
Then, with under two minutes left and still behind a goal, St. Henry set up for a free kick near midfield. The ball was delivered well into the box, a Crusader headed it and deflected off of the goalkeeper, then Adam Lannon headed it himself to equalize the game a the 3-3. The surge of confidence that the Colonel Crazies had preserved for their team for 58 minutes, tidal-waved over to the red side of St. Henry.
“We've been talking about it all year. Set pieces and balls into the box,” Hahn said. “We made it messy in the box and we got our chance.”
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| For more, read the full article at The River City News |
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