Hopkinsville’s magic carpet ride of a soccer season continues Thursday night as the Tigers play Highlands in the semifinals of the KHSAA State Soccer Tournament presented by the Army ROTC in Lexington.
Hoptown (19-6-2) continued their trend of scoring first in the postseason in their quarterfinal win over Butler Saturday. The Tigers won the contest in the sixth round of penalty kicks. In their seven postseason wins, Hoptown has scored first in every game. They have outscored their opponents 36-5.
Hopkinsville’s 2-1 win over Calloway County in the semi-state round gave Tyler Stallons his 150th win as Tiger head coach. Stallons’ teams have won 19 or more games in seven of the last eight seasons. A win Thursday would give Stallons his fourth team to win at least 20 games.
Standing in the way of Hoptown’s 20th win is Highlands, who hasn’t lost to a Kentucky school this year. The Bluebirds are 22-1-3, with their lone setback coming against Hamilton Southeastern, Indiana. Highlands has allowed just 11 goals in 26 games and hasn’t given up two goals in a game since Sept. 18.
While Hopkinsville has never advanced to the semifinal round, Highlands is there for the first time since 2012 and looking to advance to their first title match since 2008 when they lost to St. Xavier.
Hopkinsville and Highlands will play at 8pm at Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington. The winner of Thursday night’s semifinal will play the winner of St. Xavier/Henry Clay in the state championship match Saturday night.