Less than four minutes into their game against #3 Hopkinsville, the Marshals scored on a direct kick taken by Seth Strader right in front of the goal following a hand ball penalty on Mason Rye. Hopkinsville then tied around the 15 minute mark on a goal by Ryan Roussel on an assist from Ethan Noel and the game was on.
A corner kick by Noel, off the head of Newcomb Maddux with just over nine minutes to go in the first half put the Tigers up 2-1, then with two minutes to go Roussel to Caleb Joiner put Hopkinsville up at halftime 3-1.
The Marshals began the second half with a flurry of shots on goal, keeping the pressure on and getting their second goal of the game by Stader on an assist by Nate Moore, then tied the game 3-3 on a goal by Jacob Kramer with a well-earned assist to J.J. Evans.
Hopkinsville’s Zack Moore took a corner kick with 17 minutes left in the game that went off of Braden Casey and found the net for the go-ahead goal and ultimately the game-winner for the Tigers.
The Marshals three goals tied the most against the Tigers so far this season when they lost 3-0 to Warren Central last week and the smallest win margin this season for Hopkinsville. Coach Donnie Heath felt the game was right there to win for his team, proud of the way they fought back.
“We were tired at the end physically, but mentally they were trying to do the right thing and that to us, as coaches, leads us to believe that they’re getting the message and tying to do what we ask of them”, Heath said. “It’s very easy to get frustrated when we were down 3-1, but came back and tied it 3-3.”
Against a consistently top five team in Hopkinsville, Heath said there’s plenty to be proud of, complimenting the defense which Heath said stayed disciplined throughout the game.
The Marshals had 14 shots, seven on goal, two corners and one penalty kick with nine saves by Tyler Belcher. Hopkinsville had 29 shots, 13 on goal, eight corners, two yellow cards issued with four saves by keeper Ethan Bailey. Hopkinsville improves to 8-1-1, the Marshals are 7-3 and will head to Owensboro on Saturday for their next game against the Red Devils.
The JV Marshals won their game over Hopkinsville 2-1.
