Boys’ soccer: Douglass and Bryan Station only play thrillers; Dunbar up for title defense
There’s just something about Frederick Douglass’ boys’ soccer rivalry with Bryan Station that produces thrilling games.
Each of the last two years, regulation has not been enough to decide their 42nd District tournament semifinals matchup. In 2020, a long distance free kick in overtime teed up Will Majors’ golden goal, game-winning shot for Douglass inside the box. In 2019, Douglass tied the game at the end of regulation and won it on penalty kicks after overtime to advance.
Soccer begins its postseason this week with the 42nd and 43rd District boys’ tournaments kicking off Monday in Lexington.
“What I’ve tried to explain to our players is that the whole script for districts has changed because the last two years we played (Station), they beat our butts in the regular season,” Douglass Coach Omar Shalash told the Herald-Leader.
This season, despite going down a player due to a first half red card, No. 15 Douglass (12-3) topped No. 21 Bryan Station (8-6-1) by a score of 2-1 on Aug. 24 on the Defenders’ home field, creating a number of chances and earning a game-winning penalty kick even though outmanned.
“We just keep fighting, bro,” Douglass forward Cooper Ranvier said after that game. He scored twice against Station, including the PK and leads the Broncos in goals with 12. His seven assists shares the team lead with Eric Triplett.
Douglass and Station play Tuesday as part of a girls-boys semifinals doubleheader. All 42nd District games are being played at the Sayre Athletic Complex.
“We’re not the same two teams we were when we played (on Aug. 24).” Shalash said. “Watching film on them, they are one of the teams in the state that matches up really well with us. But if we stick to our style of play, we dictate our tempo and our formation that we play, we can make it three years in a row.”
Defending 42nd champion Henry Clay (8-8-3) has had an up and down season, but it holds the top district seed and a No. 14 ranking despite returning a team that did not have a lot of varsity experience prior to this year.
The Blue Devils will face the winner of Monday’s play-in game between Sayre (8-9-1) and Scott County (0-14).
“For the duration of the year, I would say the results have gone the way of our effort,” said Henry Clay Coach Jason Behler, whose team last lost a district tournament game in 2018 but made the state finals that year. “Now that our effort has leveled off and we know what it takes, we’re trying to get better at the execution side of things … We’ve had growing pains, but I think we’ve got some stuff figured out. And we’ll be a tough out for anybody.”
Each district semifinals is a win-or-go home game with the district finalists assured of a bid to next week’s region tournament.
Defending in the 43rd
Defending 11th Region champion Paul Laurence Dunbar hasn’t duplicated the phenomenal success of last year’s undefeated regular season. And that could be a good thing.
“I never like to lose, but I think it helps bring the boys back down to earth a little bit,” said Dunbar Coach James Wray, who is in his second season with the Bulldogs. “I think we’ve walked into a couple of games a little overconfident, and I think getting knocked back down to earth has helped them a little bit to refocus and recommit what we’re trying to do this year.”
Despite some setbacks, Dunbar (13-3-2) has consistently ranked in the top five of the Maher Rankings all year and was the No. 2 team last week. Senior Issac Cano leads Dunbar with 20 goals and seven assists.
They’ll likely drop a bit when the new rankings come out after Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Highlands, but the Bulldogs would have to be considered the favorites this week after going 4-0 against district competition in the regular season.
“I think the boys have a lot of confidence heading into the postseason,” Wray said. “As a coach, you always worry, and you’re always trying to focus on the things you can improve on, but I like where we’re sitting now, and I like the cohesiveness of our team and the confidence they’ve shown. I think we’ll be ready.”
As the top seed, Dunbar will face the winner of Monday’s play-in game between Tates Creek (4-8-2) and Lexington Christian (8-6-1) in the district semifinals on Tuesday. All games are at Lexington Christian.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 11 Lexington Catholic (14-5) might pose the greatest threat to Dunbar’s district title hopes. Bigabo Jackson leads the Knights with 15 goals. Durham Wells tops the assists column with 13.
The Knights have already claimed some statewide hardware this season with a blistering run through the first Kentucky 2A Championship tournament the sport has had. The Knights had a 10-0 win over Belfry in that event’s semifinals and a 7-0 win in the finals over Thomas Nelson.
But Lafayette (9-5-3), LexCath’s semifinals opponent on Tuesday, is the only other district team besides Dunbar to have beaten them in the regular season — a game scored as a 3-2 loss on penalty kicks on Aug. 23.
Boys’ soccer
42ND DISTRICT PLAYOFFS
All games at Sayre Athletic Complex
Monday: Scott County (0-14) vs. Sayre (8-9-1), 8 p.m.
Tuesday’s semifinals: Henry Clay (8-8-3) vs. Scott County-Sayre winner, 8 p.m.
Wednesday’s semifinals: Bryan Station (8-6-1) vs. Frederick Douglass (11-3), 8 p.m.
Thursday: Championship, 8 p.m.
43RD DISTRICT PLAYOFFS
All games at Lexington Christian
Monday: Tates Creek (4-8-2) vs. Lexington Christian (8-6-1), 6 p.m.
Tuesday’s semifinals: Tates Creek-Lexington Christian winner vs. Paul Laurence Dunbar (13-3-2), 6 p.m.; Lexington Catholic (14-5) vs. Lafayette (9-5-3), 8:30 p.m.
Thursday: Championship, 6:30 p.m.
This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 3:36 PM.
