Defending soccer champ keeps title hopes alive after scrappy challenge

The defending boys’ soccer champ got a big test from a fellow blue-blood program Thursday night, but in the end the crown prevailed.

St. Xavier defeated Henry Clay, 1-0, in the semifinals of the KHSAA Boys’ Soccer State Tournament sponsored by U.S. Army ROTC. The Tigers will meet either Highlands or Hopkinsville for a chance to defend their title in the finals Saturday at Frederick Douglass High School.

BOX SCORE: ST. XAVIER 1, HENRY CLAY 0

It’ll be state-championship game No. 16 for the Tigers, who’ve gone 13-2 in their previous trips. Their championship tally is four better than second-place Ballard. St. X (25-2-1) will play for its fourth title since 2011 and look to go 4-0 in the decade.

Conner George fed the net with his left on a short cross from Case Cox in the 22nd minute to give the Tigers their advantage Thursday night. St. Xavier’s offense generated ample opportunities in the first half before meeting a stingier Henry Clay back line out of the break.

Henry Clay (12-9-3) won seven of its final eight games with a roster reliant primarily on underclassmen, including several sophomores and freshmen, among them goalkeeper Angel Urbina. It played only three seniors — Nathan Baldwin, Max Shendo and Antwan Yongbang — against the more-elder Tigers.

“It’s hard to game-plan against them,” St. Xavier Coach Andy Schulten said. “Because you don’t know who you’re gonna get. I know that they’re pretty young but I also know Jason (Behler). I think he’s an outstanding coach and I knew that he’d have them together. So I’ve been warning our guys all week long, ‘Don’t pay attention to records.’”

“When you get in a game like this, it comes down to winning balls. It’s whoever can get to the ball first, and in the second half they stepped up their game a lot.”

Drew Grider, a Henry Clay sophomore, nearly evened things immediately out of the locker room after halftime but St. Xavier junior Preston Davis cleared his ball with a header right at the goal line in the 42nd minute.

“It was a tough one to lose because we generated enough chances to tie it up,” Behler, Henry Clay’s head coach, said. “Just couldn’t finish. I’m super proud of what these boys accomplished now.”

Davis was thankful he was able to stop Henry Clay’s closest chance.

“If I don’t clear it, we’re tied 1 to 1 in the state semifinal,” Davis said with a laugh. “So I have to get that ball out or we’re tied. It was definitely a difficult play. There was a lot of physicality in that game.”

This story was originally published November 1, 2018 at 8:30 PM.