‘We just keep going.’ Lafayette rallies past McCracken to reach boys soccer state finals.
For the fourth time this postseason, the Lafayette Generals conceded the opening goal to their opponent — this one on the biggest stage yet, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association boys soccer state tournament semifinals on Wednesday.
But like before, it didn’t bother them in the least.
Lafayette’s Alecx Castro powered home a free kick from 27 yards out that slipped through the McCracken County goalkeeper and helped send the Generals to Saturday’s state championship game.
“It actually doesn’t feel real. I ain’t going to lie to you,” Castro said after the 2-1 win against the Mustangs (20-4-2) that was played on Lafayette’s home field at Ishmael Stadium.
The Generals will host 15-time state champion St. Xavier in the state title game at 4 p.m. Saturday. St. X defeated Ryle 2-1 (3-2 on penalty kicks) in Wednesday’s second game.
Castro struck what ended up being the game winner for Lafayette off his right foot with 23:16 remaining in the second half. The ball appeared to go through McCracken keeper Grayson Parish’s gloves.
“I was focused on just hitting it with power and putting it into that right corner,” Castro said. “He was on the left side, so he was giving me the whole right side. If I just put it with power there, I thought it might go in.”
Castro’s goal completed Lafayette’s comeback from down 1-0 in the first half after McCracken’s Nathan Taylor got loose up the middle for a blistering shot on goal from atop the 18-yard box at the 17:55 mark.
“Just a lack of communication right there,” admitted Lafayette senior center back Sawyer Trowel, who was recently selected Lexington all-city player of the year. “But we bounced back from that goal and scored two. Nothing really stops us. We just keep going. In the region tournament, we went down 1-0 in every single game, but we made it back.”
Lafayette (20-3-1) equalized just before halftime as Ryan Chau pounced on a rebounded shot that caromed to him right of goal. As McCracken scrambled to block Nadeer Duek’s shot from the left side, Chau stormed in on the right and tied it 1-1 with 2:04 till the break.
Lafayette coach Chris Grimm noted that this year’s Lafayette team has repeatedly shown resilience in the postseason.
“I guess it’s kind of a double-edged sword, right?” Grimm said. “And we’ve come back and we’ve had success, so when we get in that situation, these guys aren’t going to get rattled.”
Next up comes Lafayette’s first state championship game since the Generals won their only KHSAA crown in 1990, the high school era of some of these players’ parents.
Over the last 16 years, Grimm has coached a lot of really good Lafayette teams that didn’t lack heart or determination, but couldn’t scratch out as many goals in key moments as his current edition has done.
“I give a lot of credit to the mentality of this team,” Grimm said. “Goals change games. …This year, I think we got a handful of guys that can do some things around the goal that really helped us, so that if we go down, we know we have confidence in those guys to find the back of the net, find a way to get the ball in the goal to change that momentum.”
St. Xavier outkicks Ryle in shootout
For the second time this postseason, St. Xavier survived a penalty kick shootout to keep its state championship dreams alive.
TJ Kaskocsak delivered the final blow to help the Tigers top Ryle 2-1 (3-2 PKs) and head to the program’s record 18th state tournament finals and second in a row.
Kaskocsak referenced the disappointment of missing his shootout kick in last season’s finals against Paul Laurence Dunbar as part of motivation and determination for success against Ryle on Wednesday and Collegiate in the shootout for the 7th Region championship two weeks ago.
“I think I’ve redeemed myself from last year,” said Kaskocsak, who also cashed in a penalty kick to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with 3:20 remaining in the first half. “Those are just my opportunities. I just thrive in them now.”
Both Ryle keeper Landon Barth and St. X keeper Ben Howard saved two spot kicks in the shootout. After Diego Hoenderkamp’s last attempt for Ryle sailed over the crossbar, Kaskocsak stepped up for the game-winner.
“I just go through my head, breathe, and then just focus on one spot and put it away,” Kaskocsak said.
Kaskocsak’s PK in regulation came courtesy of a handball that occurred as a St. X attacker attempted to cross the ball into the box from near the endline.
Ryle (22-2-1) answered 90 seconds into the second half when Chris Maraduaga struck a backward, spinning shot off the outside of his foot into the net for a 1-1 tie. The play came on a free kick into the box from beyond midfield.
Last year, St. X (22-3-3) played a scoreless 90 minutes against Paul Laurence Dunbar in the state finals and lost in a PK shootout. The Tigers will face a different Lexington team Saturday and have to do so on their opponent’s home field. And they’ll be looking for a different result.
“St. X is built off adversity, so I think this our moment,” Kaskocsak said.
Saturday
KHSAA Boys Soccer State Championship
At Lafayette High School
4 p.m.: Lafayette (20-3-1) vs. St. Xavier (22-3-3)
This story was originally published October 26, 2023 at 7:58 AM.
