The Ball Bounces in Favor of the Lions Boyd County Wins 16th on Own Goal by East Carter
Sasha Bush
The Ashland Beacon
The Boyd County Lions are headed to the State Tournament for the second straight year after defeating East Carter 2-1 in the 16th Region Soccer Championship game Saturday. The Lions came out with the win against Fleming County in the first round of the 16th Region Tournament besting the Panthers by 4-0. Boyd County’s Rolan Sanderson and Aiden McCoy each contributed two goals. The Lions kept that momentum going into the championship game against East Carter.
The Raiders put up quite a fight, but the odds were not in their favor as Boyd County’s Cole Thompson came in with a header with three minutes left in regulation and the game tied at one, which set the ball in motion. After several kicks at the goal by the Lions, the ball eventually bounced off an East Carter defender and into the net for what proved to be the winning goal for the Lions. Boyd County’s goalkeeper, Carter Gibson, made 4 saves and only allowed one goal. The Lions will advance to the first round of the State Tournament in Lexington, Kentucky where they will go up against Paul Laurence Dunbar tonight. Nick Parker scored two goals and Drew Clark added two assists and a goal to lead Ashland to a 3-2 win over Rowan County in the opening round of the 16th Region Tournament. The Tomcats faced East Carter in the semi-finals, a team they had defeated 3-0 earlier in the season, but came up just short in overtime and fell 2-1. The Raiders outscore Ashland 4-2 in PATs to end the Tomcats’ season. Boyd County’s Rolan Sanderson was named the 16th Region Tournament MVP. The Lions’ Carter Gibson, Aiden McCoy, and Cole Thompson along with Ashland’s Nick Parker and Drew Clark all were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Russell Comes up Short in Title Game
Sasha Bush
The Ashland Beacon
East Carter took home the 16th Region girls’ soccer title after defeating Russell 5-2 in the championship game Saturday. The Lady Raiders will advance to the Girls Soccer State Tournament where they will host Bishop Brossart tonight. Russell put up quite a fight in the first two rounds of the 16th Region Tournament as they took the wins in their contest against West Carter 7-0 and Fleming County 7-2. Eva Blanke scored four goals in the win over the Lady Comets and three against the Panthers. Ava Quinn had two assists and three goals in the two wins. Blanke found the back of the net almost midway through the first half to tie the score at one in the title game against East Carter but Russell was outscored 4-1 the rest of the way and dropped a 5-2 decision to the Lady Raiders to end their season at 8-11-1. Ashland came out strong in the first round of the 16th Region Tournament defeating Rowan County 7-0. The LadyCats scored four goals over the final 15 minutes of the first half to lead 4-0 at intermission. Milei Baker led Ashland with four goals. Abby Baldwin, Kenleigh Woods, and Sarah Sprangler each contributed a goal apiece. Ashland battled East Carter to a two-all tie at the end of regulation in the semi-finals but the Lady Raiders’ goal with 16 seconds left in overtime ended the season for the LadyCats. The loss was only Ashland’s third on the season and they closed out the year at 16-3-2.