Back-to-back champs: Shootout king Paul Laurence Dunbar defends boys’ state soccer title
After 80 minutes plus 10 of a scoreless, but breathless KHSAA Boys’ State Soccer Championship game on Saturday, it all came down to the one thing Paul Laurence Dunbar seems to do better than everyone else.
The No. 2 Bulldogs buried their first four spot kicks in the title-deciding penalty shootout against No. 1 St. Xavier and got a save from keeper Mason Feddock along the way. When the Tigers’ fourth PK sailed harmlessly over the crossbar, the Bulldogs stormed Frederick Douglass High School’s field to celebrate school’s sixth boys’ soccer state championship and second in a row.
The final scoreline, Dunbar 1, St. Xavier 0 (4-2 on penalty kicks), doesn’t truly convey how great a game it had been.
“That’s one of the better games I’ve ever watched in high school,” Dunbar Coach James Wray said. “Two top teams, I’m glad we got the top two teams. I’m glad we put on a show. I’m glad we fought. It could have gone either way.”
Dunbar has history with PK shootouts
But penalty kick shootouts always seem to go Dunbar’s way. In fact, in the five postseason shootouts with Wray as coach, Dunbar is 6-0.
The Bulldogs stayed alive in the first round of this year’s 11th Region Tournament against Bryan Station with a PK win. They claimed their third straight 11th Region title with a PK victory over No. 3 Frederick Douglass two weeks ago. They topped Douglass at region the season before on PKs and topped both Douglass and Henry Clay in 2020 regional shootouts.
“I don’t play for shootouts that’s for sure,” Wray said, shaking his head. “I don’t necessarily like shootouts, but I know the guys that are going to step up there. It’s not just the ability to put the ball in the net in practice. It’s the ability to stay calm under pressure and put the ball in the net when you’ve got these guys out here watching you and the state finals on the line.
“It’s the same five we’ve stuck with all season long, and they buried them.”
Feddock relieved some of the pressure by stopping St. X’s first attempt with a dive to his right.
“I just kind of saw him showing that way. His hips were kind of facing that way, so I just went for it” Feddock said.
He’s had enough of shootouts, though.
“I’m tired of it,” Feddock said with a smile. “But I’m used to them by now. I go over to the bench and when you’ve got everyone there who already says, ‘Man, you’ve got it,’ it’s hard to let them down.”
Recovering from a missed opportunity
The game was almost decided by a penalty kick in regulation, but St. Xavier keeper Alex Kron, who has spent time with the professional Louisville City club, saved Ryan O’Hara’s attempt after a foul was called inside the box with 5:58 left in the second half.
O’Hara’s teammates wouldn’t let him dwell on it.
“Not to be cocky, but I told him, ‘You’re getting another opportunity, because I’m not getting scored on,’” Feddock said.
Tournament most valuable player Kasen Johnston spoke to O’Hara as well.
“I went straight to him and said get your head back in the game,” Johnston said, noting he also talked with him again before the shootout. “I told him to be confident and go the same way he always goes and he nailed it. “
O’Hara was the second Bulldog to take his kick in the shootout. Like Joany “Gio” Chavez, Chaz Rich and Johnston, he did not miss.
Nobody’s underdog
Despite being the defending state champion, Dunbar (19-2-3) embraced the role of supposed underdog against St. Xavier (24-2-3), the 15-time KHSAA state champion who the Maher Rankings had at No. 1 for all but three weeks of this season, tournament included.
“Everybody thought we weren’t going to win, but we knew we had it in us,” Chavez said. “We knew we could achieve this goal with all of us playing together. That’s what we came out to do and we got the result.”
During regulation and two overtimes, Dunbar outshot St. X 14-13 and had six shots on goal to the Tigers’ four. Dunbar also led in corner kicks 7-4 and had three in the first overtime.
Perhaps St. X’s best chance came on a 20-yard shot by Stone Work that hit the lower half of the crossbar with 59 seconds left in the second half. Dunbar cleared it before more danger threatened.
“It was a great game tonight — back and forth, I mean, up and down … Hat’s off to Dunbar, said St. X Coach Andy Schulten, whose team tied Dunbar 1-1 when they played in Lexington during the regular season on Sept. 10. “They got the toss of a coin. That’s effectively what a PK is. It’s disappointing. It’s sad. But I’m very proud of my guys.”
Dunbar’s sixth state title remains third best among Kentucky boys’ high school programs behind St. X (15) and Ballard (nine). It’s a title that seemed improbable at the beginning of the season having graduated 12 seniors and six starters off last year’s title team.
“I’m just proud of our kids. We fought through a lot of stuff this year,” Wray said. “We had a really tough schedule. … We were the underdogs coming into this game, but I said to them, ‘The only place you guys are underdogs is outside this locker room. Inside here, I know you’re the better team.”
All-Tournament Team
Gabe Cima, Corbin; Hayden Boswell, Daviess County; JJ Brown, Madisonville; Tristan Compton, Boyle County; Yaredi Yaredi, David Yusk, Bowling Green; Aidan Byrd, Landon Barth, Ryle; Alex Kron Jr., Miles McMillen, Walker Stanbery, St. Xavier; Joany Chavez, Mason Feddock, Kasen Johnston (MVP), Paul Laurence Dunbar.
This story was originally published October 30, 2022 at 7:59 AM.
