‘It really hits home.’ Tribute to fallen friend part of Henry Clay’s region soccer win.
The tragic loss of a friend and club teammate last weekend has put the high school soccer postseason in perspective for Henry Clay senior forward Marco Messerli.
Messerli played at Lexington Sporting Club with New Albany, Indiana, native Bryce Gerlach, who was killed as a bystander in the crossfire between two groups of people at a community festival on Saturday.
For Messerli, these next few games aren’t just about titles and trophies.
“He’s a guy that really loved the sport and loved to be with his teammates,” Messerli said. “And now that he’s not with us anymore, it really hits home for me to appreciate these nights with my friends. Every night we come out for a playoff game, we’re just looking to extend more time to have with my friends.”
Henry Clay did that with a 5-1 win over Paul Laurence Dunbar in the 11th Region Tournament semifinals on their home field Wednesday night.
Messerli scored two of the five goals, both on long-distance shots into the top corners from outside the 18-yard box.
“I’ve done that in practice and put in the work to keep my head over the ball,” said Messerli whose first wonder-shot gave the Blue Devils a 2-0 lead barely seven minutes into the game. His celebration included revealing a tribute to Gerlach on a T-shirt underneath his jersey.
A few minutes earlier, Messerli eluded a defender, drove deep down the right side of the field and hammered a crossing pass into the box that a Dunbar defender deflected into the path of Henry Clay junior forward Braden Cundiff. Cundiff pounced on the bouncing ball with a right-footed volley that put the Blue Devils up 1-0 at the 35:17 mark of the first half.
Henry Clay took a 3-0 lead midway through the first half on Will Potter’s header of a corner kick. The rout appeared to be on.
Although the Blue Devils later conceded a Christian Delgado penalty kick on a collision in the box that left starting goalkeeper Nash Florence with a bloody nose, Henry Clay coach Jason Behler was largely pleased with his team’s performance.
“I’m disappointed we gave up a goal, because when we’re operating well, we make it very difficult for teams to get anything,” Behler said. “It’s the effort when we lose the ball that generates a lot of our chances. … Our midfielders are so precise with their passing and our forwards were obviously on tonight. But it was the work off the ball that absolutely generated goals tonight.
Messerli and Potter each got their second goals of the game in the late stages to set the final margin over the 43rd District champions. Dunbar finished the season 16-7-2.
Next, Henry Clay (17-3-4) will face 42nd District rival Frederick Douglass for the 11th Region championship at 7 p.m. Friday. It will be the third meeting between the two. Henry Clay beat Douglass 6-0 in the regular season and 3-0 in the 42nd District finals.
“I think we’ll be prepared,” Behler said. “We know them pretty well. They know us pretty well. So, let’s lace them up.”
Douglass tops Frankfort with late penalty kick
Douglass senior midfielder JP Figueroa calmly struck a penalty kick with 11:50 to play that lifted the Broncos to a 2-1 win over Frankfort in Wednesday’s first 11th Region semifinal at Henry Clay.
The penalty kick came as the result of a handball in the box, but also rewarded the sustained pressure Douglass (12-7-1) was able to put on Frankfort’s back line despite adjustments the Panthers made since their 4-0 loss to the Broncos in the regular season.
“It was just perseverance,” Figueroa said. “This is definitely a situation where you’re playing a team that you’ve played before and you’re thinking they’re going to play the same way. Frankfort did a really good job of adjusting to how we play.”
Beni Shendera got the Broncos on the board first after a sprint down the left side of the field that he finished with a looping shot over the Frankfort keeper’s head for a 1-0 lead at the 37:23 mark of the first half.
Frankfort (13-7-3) responded four minutes later when Phillip Kittrell volleyed Bryson Cox’s cross into the box over the Douglass keeper to tie the game 1-1.
This story was originally published October 17, 2024 at 7:08 AM.
