Marshall County and Murray squared off on Thursday in Calloway County in the Region 1 championship game. The two squads met three times leading up to the title game. Murray, a top five team in the state all season, won all three including a 6-0 win in the 2nd District semifinals.
Marshall County’s journey to the championship game was inspirational after finishing the regular season with a 12-11-2 record. They knocked off reigning Region 1 champion McCracken County 3-1 in the quarterfinals, then took Calloway County to penalty kicks, winning 2-1 in their semifinal to advance to meet the Tigers.
Murray came into Thursday’s game with 23 wins and just one loss. They beat St. Mary 8-0 in the quarterfinals and Paducah Tilghman 7-1 in the semifinals. Murray is ranked first in the state in scoring and first in scoring margin.
Max Rosa put the Tigers on the board and the 1-0 lead held until late in the half when they doubled it on a goal by Kellen Crouch against a tenacious Marshall County defense. In the closing seconds, Marshall County’s Houston Johnson and Maddox Schroader got off shots on goal that were saved by Murray goalkeeper Hank Fronza.
The Marshals battled to produce scoring opportunities while holding the Tigers to the 2-0 lead well into the halfway point of the second half before Murray scored three more goals.
At 18:22, Jimmy Kjellberg scored for Murray to push the lead to 3-0. Near the 12-minute mark, Xavier Robinson made it a 4-0 game for the Tigers and with seven minutes remaining, a free kick taken by Rosa was knocked in by Brodie Morris to seal the 5-0 win.
Murray will play Daviess County at home on Monday in the opening round of the Boys Soccer State Tournament. Daviess County beat Owensboro 3-0 to win the Region 3 title.
All-Region Team:
Offensive MVP: Nate Wyatt (Murray)
Defensive MVP: Tommy Robertson (Marshall County)
Player of the Year: Nate Wyatt (Murray)
Coach of the Year: Jared Rosa (Murray
FIRST TEAM: Brodie Morris (Murray), Hank Fronza (Murray), Jason Malendez (Mayfield), Julian Warfield (McCracken), Lincoln Colburn (Marshall County), Kellen Crouch (Murray), Tommy Robertson (Marshall County), Max Rosa (Murray), Nate Wyatt (Murray), Xavier Robinson (Murray), Zak Stark (Calloway County)
SECOND TEAM: Blain Oliver (Paducah Tilghman), Canaan Bazzell (Calloway County), Hunter Williams (Calloway County), Isaac Reynolds (Marshall County), Yoni Damien (Calloway County), Mason Edwards (McCracken County), Oscar Avila (Calloway County), Pablo Sanchez (Mayfield), Russell Hancock (Paducah Tilghman), Ivan Damien (Calloway County)
HONORABLE MENTION: Aaron Ladd (Paducah Tilghman), Alex McMillan (Paducah Tilghman), Braden Burnham (Marshall County), Carson Lovett (Marshall County), Colton Snyder (Marshall County), Christian Hernandez (Graves County), Dawson Beyer (McCracken County), Edvin Batten (Mayfield), Houston Johnson (Marshall County), Lane Grace (McCracken County), Luis Montes (Mayfield)
