One team moves on to the First Region Championship game and the season ends for other. Marshall County boys played District 1 runner-up St. Mary in Tuesday’s semi-final at Colburn Field. For St. Mary (8-4-1), it was their third region tournament appearance in program history but it would end there for the Vikings, the Marshals winning 3-0 to advance to the title game on Thursday.
An October fog hung low over the field as action got underway at 8:00 p.m. The Marshals possessed the ball the majority of the first half, taking 15 shots, not finding the net or into the hands of goalkeeper Jack Bell. Looking like a scoreless first half, William Lynch gets one past Bell at 4:26 to put the Marshals on the board and goalkeeper Ben Burkeen with 1:35 to go saved the equalizer.
Through the first 25 minutes of the second half, the game remained 1-0, when controversy arose over a foul called on St. Mary’s Jack Roof. Unhappy with the call, St. Mary Head Coach Andrew Leonard drew a straight red card from the center judge and he was forced to leave the field.
A minute later, Eric Hicks rockets in the second goal of the night on a free kick following a St. Mary foul. With just over four minutes to go, St. Mary’s Sahil Rachan with an open look at the goal to put the Vikings on the board, missed wide left. The final goal for the Marshals came following a foul on Collin Riley in the box with 3:21 left on the clock and he powered in the penalty kick for the 3-0 win.
The Marshals took 25 shots, 11 of those on goal and Burkeen had one save. St. Mary had three shots in the game, one on goal and Bell recorded nine saves.
Thursday’s championship will be a rematch of the 2019 title game, the Marshals winning that one over McCracken County 2-0. The Mustangs advanced after their 4-0 win over Murray in Tuesday’s first semi-final game.
