‘We’re just having fun.’ Unbeaten Henry Clay boys soccer looking scary good at midseason.
Henry Clay’s boys soccer team hasn’t just been winning most of its games this season, it’s been winning big. And its opponents have not been small.
Two weeks ago, the Blue Devils handed a 6-0 home loss to their chief nemesis in recent years, defending 42nd District champion Frederick Douglass.
On Tuesday, Henry Clay claimed a 4-1 road win over the 11th Region’s most decorated boys’ program, six-time state champion Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Against one of the toughest schedules in the state, Henry Clay (7-0-2) has been averaging 4.33 goals per game and has given up only five scores. That’s tied with defending 11th Region champion Lafayette for the fewest goals allowed in the region.
“We’ve spent a lot of time together fine tuning things in practice and now it’s on the field and we’re just having fun,” said senior striker Marco Messerli, who scored the Blue Devils’ first two goals against Dunbar — one an individual moment of brilliance atop the 18-yard box midway through the first half and the other a finish that literally smashed through the opposite side netting barely a minute into the second half.
The second goal came as a result of a corner kick and a perfect header into Messerli’s path by teammate James Clay. Moments later, Shukuru Hamisi scored the third. Henry Clay’s consistent pressure around Dunbar’s box set up a Connor Taylor blast from straight away for a 4-0 lead with 29 minutes left in the game.
Fifteen different Blue Devils have scored this season led by Messerli’s nine goals. Braden Cundiff is second with eight scores. Hamisi has seven. Messerli also has a team-high 10 assists.
“This season is about finding passes in the final third and today we were able to find some of those,” Messerli said.
Dunbar’s Jackson Brooks scored with 21 minutes left to keep the Bulldogs from being shut out.
Lafayette and 1st Region contender McCracken County are the only teams to avoid defeat against Henry Clay with the Mustangs drawing 0-0 in the second game of the season and the Generals earning a 1-1 result a week later.
“Offense is always the last piece of the puzzle that you’re trying to figure out,” Henry Clay coach Jason Behler said. “Some nights are clicking and other nights defenses stymie you. You’ve just got to figure out how to solve every different puzzle you can. Those puzzles we came up against early were a little bit too difficult for us at the time.
“But we’re starting to figure out how to solve all the puzzles.”
The puzzles ahead could be brain benders with a trip to Cincinnati Moeller (6-0-1) on Saturday followed by games against 42nd District rivals Bryan Station (9-2-1) and Sayre (7-2-0) next week that will determine who will be the top seed in the district tournament next month.
Needless to say, Behler likes how his team is playing midseason.
“When you’re all individual and you’re not sharing, you’re really easy to defend,” Behler said. “The fact that these guys love to share the ball, are unselfish and celebrate each other’s goals — that’s the trademark of a team. That’s what allows us to score multiple goals.”
Henry Clay hasn’t won the 42nd District since 2021. It hasn’t won the 11th Region since 2019, the year Behler and the Blue Devils claimed the school’s third state title.
“It’s just about challenging guys day-in and day-out to not be satisfied and to understand our goals are loftier than what happened the day before,” Behler said. “It’s about constantly challenging them. … If you can do that, then the postseason becomes a breeze.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 7:58 AM.
