Usually, the two-time defending region champion doesn’t play the regular season with a chip on their shoulder as the underdog. But that’s exactly the position Hopkinsville was in throughout the 2018 regular season after losing seven starters from last year’s team.
The Tigers used that chip to beat Henderson County 2-0 Thursday and claim their third straight region title and fourth in five years. And for the fourth straight postseason game, it was the Tiger defense that got the job done.
Hopkinsville allowed just one goal in three region tourney games and pitched shutouts against their two biggest challengers for the region title – Madisonville and Henderson County. It’s the second time in three years that Hopkinsville has shut out two opponents in the region tourney and their first blanking of Henderson County since the Colonels joined the region in 2012.
As they have the entire postseason, the Tigers scored first as Welby Horn found the net nine minutes into the contest. Both teams had a couple of looks at the goal the rest of the half, but the defense of both teams kept the other out of the goal.
With the score still 1-0 with 15 minutes left, Henderson County appeared to tie the match, but an offsides call negated the equalizer. For Colonel fans, it brought back bad memories of last year’s semifinal loss to Hoptown that saw two Henderson goals waived off in the second half and overtime.
Less than a minute later, Ryan Roussel got loose down the left sideline and was able to angle in for the goal. Henderson Coach Benson Pryor screamed for a foul and continued to rail on the lack of a foul call the remainder of the match.
Hopkinsville goalie Xavier Bussell made eight saves to get the win behind a Tiger defense that pitched their third shutout in their last four games.
It was the third straight year Hopkinsville ended Henderson County’s season, and the Tigers improved to 9-0-2 against the Colonels in their last 11 games.
Hopkinsville (17-6-2) will travel to Calloway County Tuesday to play the First Region champions in the semi-state round of the state tournament. Calloway beat Marshall County Thursday for their third region title in four years.
Hoptown and Calloway did not meet during the 2018 season. Calloway beat the Tigers 5-4 last year in Murray.