Boys’ soccer: ‘This is what they’ve been dreaming about.’ Dunbar, LexCath on to finals.
With one stunning upset already in the books during the 11th Region boys’ soccer tournament, the two remaining top-ranked teams in the field, No. 6 Paul Laurence Dunbar and No. 15 Lexington Catholic, made sure they punched their tickets to Saturday’s finals.
For Dunbar, its 4-2 semifinals win over No. 22 Frankfort on Wednesday at Lexington Christian Academy’s Turner Field came in a frenetic and sometimes out of control 80 minutes that saw a couple of brief skirmishes among players and a number or yellow cards for each team. Though the Panthers also saw a player sent off late in the second half with a red card, Frankfort kept battling until the end despite being a player down.
“Frankfort’s a really, really strong team, and I knew they were going to come out and give us a good test,” Dunbar Coach James Wray said. “They’ve got a lot of good players, a lot of guys we know through club, and I knew they were going to come ready to play.”
In the first semifinal of the night, Lexington Catholic had an easier time defeating Great Crossing 7-0. The Warhawks pulled off a shocker in Monday’s quarterfinals, knocking off undefeated No. 2 Madison Central in Richmond. But LexCath’s lightning quick counter-attack goal late in the first half gave the Knights a 2-0 lead and seemed to invigorate their efforts in the second half.
“We played hard. We came here to make a statement and we did,” said LexCath senior Catesby Clay who scored three goals. “I don’t think many people were expecting us to get this far. I’m super proud of these guys.”
Saturday’s finals at Lafayette will be a rematch of the 43rd District finals a week ago in which Dunbar topped LexCath 2-1. Earlier in the season, Dunbar won their regular-season matchup 6-2.
“It’s the third time with Catholic and it’s always tough to beat a team three times in one year,” Wray said. “It will be another battle.”
Lexington Catholic earned its way to the semifinals with a 3-0 defeat Monday of Maher Rankings No. 10 Henry Clay, the 42nd District champion. LexCath Coach Jonathan Kincheloe said when his team brings energy, they are at their best.
“This is what they’ve been dreaming about,” Kincheloe said. “We started the season and this was their goal — to get the region final and put themselves in position to go to state. You know, we’ve had some bumps in the road, but when they listen and they’re committed to the cause, we can play with a lot of teams.”
Dunbar 4, Frankfort 2: The Bulldogs, who barely survived a penalty kick shootout with Frederick Douglass on Monday, ceded the opening goal to the Panthers on a corner kick just a few minutes into Wednesday’s semifinals.
But the Bulldogs responded with three first-half goals to take command of a contentious affair.
Frankfort’s Ty Hancock ran onto the 6-yard box to turn in Preston Barber’s corner kick for an early 1-0 lead at about the seven-minute mark.
It didn’t take long for Dunbar to respond in similar fashion as Rodrigo Romero flicked in the tying goal on a corner with 26 minutes left in the first half.
Just a few minutes later, Concepcion Torres shuffled into open space inside the 18-yard box and hammered home a go-ahead goal for Dunbar to make it 2-1.
With 12 minutes until halftime, Dunbar’s Issac Cano carried the ball through to the end line and delivered a crisp pass to Joany Chaves directly in front of goal for a 3-1 lead.
Though Frankfort cut the lead back to 3-2 before half on a goal by Adam Gritton off another Barber corner, Dunbar essentially sealed the game when Chavez struck again midway through the second half, this time by cleaning up a Dunbar free kick from near midfield that the Panthers’ keeper couldn’t handle.
“The first half was kind of low. They were winning a lot of 50-50s on the corners, and that’s what brought it down to 3-2. But I thought that also woke us up,” Chavez said. “We matched their intensity coming out in the second half.”
Lexington Catholic 7, Great Crossing 0: Catesby Clay scored three goals including one on an electrifying counter attack started by goalkeeper Nathan VanHoeve.
With only two minutes until halftime, VanHoeve caught a Great Crossing free kick out of the air and immediately slung it upfield to Clay. Clay sent it wide and maintained a hard sprint toward the goal. Kevin Nevarez flicked the winger’s pass into the box back to the onrushing Clay, who rifled a shot off his right foot past the keeper and into the opposite side netting.
“That was huge,” Kincheloe said. “And it was the energy we were lacking for 38 minutes. We got an early goal (by Spencer Morrison seven minutes into the game) and we kind of just dropped off completely. Then (Clay) finished it, and he gave us what we needed. He’s energy.”
Seconds into the second half Jaxon Witajewski headed in a 3-0 lead. Then Clay volleyed in his second from a wide-open position inside the box for 4-0 lead a few minutes later and the rout was on. Clay got his hat trick as the rain began to pour with 27 minutes left in the game. Connor Griese and JoJo Lancho also scored.
This will be Lexington Catholic’s first region finals appearance since 2017 when it beat Dunbar on penalty kicks for the crown and a state tournament bid. This year’s LexCath seniors were in eighth grade when that happened. LexCath suffered three successive defeats in districts since, one by penalty kicks and another in overtime.
“It’s always been rough,” Clay said of the Knights’ previous postseason losses. “Every year I just hated seeing the seniors cry and this year, I’ve said ‘That’s not going to be me.’ As much as I hate it for the other guys, it’s good to be on the other end.”
Boys’ 11th Region Tournament
Monday’s quarterfinals
Great Crossing 3, Madison Central 2
Lexington Catholic 3, Henry Clay 0
Frankfort 3, Madison Southern 2
Paul Laurence Dunbar 2, Frederick Douglass 1 (PK shootout)
Wednesday’s semifinals
At Lexington Christian
Lexington Catholic 7, Great Crossing 0
Paul Laurence Dunbar 4, Frankfort 2
Saturday’s finals
At Lafayette
2 p.m.: Lexington Catholic vs. Paul Laurence Dunbar.
This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 7:55 AM.
