In a battle between two highly ranked teams in YourSportEdge.com’s 2nd Region rankings, UHA (ranked 2nd) outlasted the Caldwell County Lady Tigers (ranked 4th) Saturday afternoon at Butler Stadium in Princeton.
The Lady Blazers’ prolific goal scorer, junior midfielder Lilly Strader opened the scoring 6 minutes into the game and it looked like UHA might overwhelm the Lady Tigers. However, as the half wore on Caldwell came into the game and began finding space on the wings and were able to begin to push the Lady Blazers back.
UHA caused themselves some anxious moments with pressured drop passes back to its goalkeeper, but were able to clear without conceding. At the midway point of the half, Strader dropped into the midfield to look to facilitate for her teammates and Caldwell’s defense was able to push a little higher without her menacing presence in their defensive third of the field. The last 10-15 minutes of the half Caldwell began to move the ball through the midfield instead of relying on long balls behind the UHA defense, ending the half with attacking momentum.
The Lady Tigers would start the second half where they left off in the first, with junior midfielder Laney Fletcher leveling the match with the half just 20 seconds old. Over the next 20 minutes the teams would battle back and forth with few clear-cut chances created. With 17 minutes remaining, University Heights appeared to have put the game away when freshman Kate Cansler stabbed in a loose ball from close range. The goal seemed to deflate the Lady Tigers, as the heat and fatigue began to catch up with them.
However, once again Caldwell battled back to tie the game when junior midfielder Lucy Goffinet scored from the right side into the left corner of the goal. The match seemed destined for overtime, but with only four minutes remaining, senior defender Alli Cundiff had other ideas. After beating a Caldwell player off the dribble, Cundiff slid and hit a dipping shot from 25 yards that dropped in over Caldwell’s keeper.
The Lady Blazers (2-0) will play the winner of the Lyon County/Fort Campbell match in the All-A Classic region title game. They will also travel to Ohio County (1-2) September 5th, while Caldwell goes to YourSportsEdge.com’s number one ranked team, Henderson County (2-0), Tuesday.
