CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – A pair of late goals helped the top-seeded Lindsey Wilson men's soccer team come from behind to defeat No. 4-seeded Campbellsville (Ky.) by a 3-2 margin on Thursday evening in the Mid-South Conference Tournament Semifinals.
Lindsey Wilson now faces St. Catharine (Ky.) in the MSC Championship game on Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT at Ron Finley Stadium in Campbellsville, Kentucky.
The Blue Raiders (13-2-2) found themselves behind early after the Tigers (13-6-0) grabbed a 1-0 edge in the 11th minute.
Campbellsville, playing on their home field, moved the ball down into the 18-yard box, and Roraigh Yearwood fired a shot at point-blank range that was saved by Lindsey Wilson goalkeeper Dalyan Hawes. The rebound fell right to the feet of Ryan Foster, who punched in the easy goal for the 1-0 lead.
In the 26th minute, the Tigers doubled their lead to 2-0 on a night of below-freezing temperatures. Yearwood scored a goal of his own after he found himself alone in the middle of the Blue Raider defense. He fielded a pass from Alex Ryan and buried the shot for the 2-0 lead at the 25:52 mark.
Lindsey Wilson answered just over a minute later with a goal from Anthony Tshimpi.
Tshimpi fired a low shot from 20 yards out that skimmed through the Tiger defense and snuck past the outstretched hands of diving Campbellsville keeper Josh Hollis into the lower left corner for the score.
The remainder of first half saw the Blue Raiders increase the offensive intensity, but Hollis refused to budge in goal, making save after save.
Elijah Ukpong had a scoring chance in the 42nd minute from 20 yards out, but his shot nicked off the crossbar and went over the Tigers' goal.
The 2-1 Campbellsville advantage would hold until halftime
The Blue Raiders outshot the Tigers, 9-5, including a 5-4 shot on-goal edge in the opening half.
As the action resumed, both teams applied pressure in the second half, but neither were able to find the back of the net during the opening 42-plus minutes of play.
Hawes made four saves during that stretch, while his Campbellsville counterpart Hollis stopped three shots.
The game went into the final minutes as the Blue Raiders desperately searched for an equalizer, applying intense pressure.
With 2:21 left on the clock, Lindsey Wilson attacked down inside the Tiger 18-yard box when a deflected ball hit a Campbellsville defender, who was called for a hand ball foul.
That foul sent Tom Moody to the penalty spot to attempt to bring the match level after the Blue Raiders trailed for nearly the entire game.
Moody lined up the shot and successfully booted home the game-tying score into the lower-right side of the Tiger goal.
Less than a minute later, Lindsey Wilson broke through the Campbellsville defense and found the go-ahead goal.
The ball bounced around in the 18-yard box before Yazeed Davids fired a shot that rebounded off of Hollis in goal, back to the feet of Davids. He quickly fired the ball right back towards the goal, this time into the back of the net for the 3-2 lead with 1:45 to play.
Campbellsville, just minutes away from their first-ever victory over the Blue Raiders, suffered the heartbreaking loss.
In all, Lindsey Wilson finished with a 24-to-9 shot advantage as well as an 11-to-8 shot on-goal edge.
For Lindsey Wilson, Hawes made six saves and allowed a pair of goals between the posts.
Tigers' goalkeeper Hollis stopped eight shots while allowing three goals.
On Friday at 4:30 p.m. CT, the Blue Raiders face St. Catharine in the MSC Tournament finale at Ron Finley Stadium.
