Marshall County and Calloway County met on Tuesday in the Region 1 semifinals hosted by the Lakers. In both of their regular season district matches, Calloway County took the wins leaving the Marshals with much to prove in their quest to play in their seventh consecutive championship.
It would take two five-minute overtime periods and eight rounds of penalty kicks to determine the outcome after the game was knotted up 1-1 at the end of regulation. The Marshals celebrated the 2-1 win when the eighth-round penalty kick from Calloway County was saved by goalkeeper Carson Lovett to seal it.
Just under nine minutes into the match, Calloway County struck first on a goal by Pablo Duque Iglesias. The Marshals would even things up with 18 minutes left in the half on a goal by Trent Jackson that came off the heels of a throw in from Isaac Reynolds.
Both teams put forth heroic efforts in the second half to gain the upper hand in the match. A header by Maddox Schroader came close near the 28-minute mark and another good look came for the Marshals with 10 minutes on the clock on a long high kick by Reynolds that was saved by Calloway keeper Hunter Williams who punched it up over the cross bar.
Each team had opportunities in the closing minutes on foul kicks, Reynolds taking one near the 9:00 mark and Calloway’s Weston Raspberry with 1:20 on the clock that was saved by Lovett.
The second half stalemate sent the game into overtime tied 1-1. The two five-minute overtime periods produced the same and penalty kicks would decide the outcome.
Goalkeepers Lovett and Williams made saves on the first round of kicks. Both teams converted on the next three rounds to keep things even. A miss by Marshall County in the fifth round gave the Lakers an opportunity to close out the win but the kick taken by goalkeeper Williams hit off the post.
Stops by both teams in round six were followed by successful attempts in round seven. Ethan Upton converted his eighth-round kick which sent Adam Wilhelm to the line for the Lakers. His PK was denied by Lovett and the Marshall County celebration ensued.
Marshall County will play Murray in the championship game on Thursday at 7:30 at Calloway County.
