‘This was a dream.’ Henry Clay and Dunbar relish chance to play at LSC Stadium
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Henry Clay and Dunbar battled to a 1-1 draw before 1,723 fans at LSC Stadium.
- Game featured tributes to late alumnus Noah Tinch and honored his legacy project.
- LSC Stadium will host KHSAA soccer finals Nov. 1, expanding prep soccer visibility.
Thursday’s regular-season clash between four-time and defending boys state soccer champion Henry Clay and six-time state champ Paul Laurence Dunbar delivered an atmosphere unlike any other.
An announced crowd of 1,723 fans took in the first high school game to be played at Lexington Sporting Club’s sparkling new LSC Stadium.
That might seem small in comparison to the professional soccer venue’s 7,500-seat capacity, but for a high school game on Aug. 28, more than a month away from the playoffs, the joint was jumping. Henry Clay even brought it’s drumline.
“This was a dream,” said Paul Laurence Dunbar junior Adam Fidowicz, who scored the equalizing goal on a cross in by teammate Diego Mares just under 10 minutes into the second half in the Bulldogs’ 1-1 tie against the Blue Devils. “Of course, everybody was tense. Everybody left it all on the field. … I’m just really proud of the guys.”
Senior defender Nathan Harvey got Henry Clay on the board early as he headed home Kingston Marshall’s corner kick for a 1-0 lead exactly three minutes into the game. Harvey, who has played in LSC’s youth club system, relished the opportunity to play on the USL Championship franchise’s pro field.
“It was a great experience,” Harvey said. “To play a city rival here is honestly super fun and all of the fans in the student section helped. You come out here and watch the pro team play, and we practice and we watch everything. It’s actually amazing to come out and play on this surface.”
The game between Henry Clay (5-0-1) and Dunbar (2-1-2) is one of two regular-season matches scheduled for LSC Stadium’s pristine grass surface this season after the club and the area’s boys high school coaches resolved their differences earlier this year over in-season player development opportunities offered by LSC Academy. Frederick Douglass and Lafayette are scheduled to play at LSC Stadium on Sept. 25.
Wednesday, the Kentucky High School Athletic Association and LSC announced the boys and girls state soccer championship games will be hosted at LSC Stadium on Nov. 1 after years of the events being held at various Lexington public high school stadiums.
“Hosting the KHSAA state soccer finals means celebrating the talent, teamwork and development of student athletes across the Commonwealth and showcasing the bright future of soccer in the Bluegrass,” LSC co-owner Stephen Dawahare said.
Bolstered by free admission to students, Thursday’s attendance nearly matched the last two boys state championship games and exceeded the prior two. A Lexington high school was involved in all four of those games, with Dunbar winning the first two, then Lafayette finishing runner-up in 2023 and Henry Clay claiming its fourth state title in 2024.
“This was special,” Henry Clay coach Jason Behler said. “I hope these boys took everything in tonight.”
The Blue Devils’ chances for victory suffered a blow late in the first half after a challenge at midfield was deemed a straight red-card foul, which resulted in the ejection of the offending player and a reduction of the Blue Devils’ on-field strength from 11 to 10 players.
“It was unfortunate to get the red card before halftime, but I think it was still a really exciting game for these fans,” Behler said. “I told (the team) we weren’t going to sit in. We’re going to push. I want to go try to win this game.”
After Dunbar’s goal, the flow of the game turned wide-open with each team making attacking runs up and down the field, one after another. The heightened atmosphere and game’s intensity led to a number of players going down briefly with leg cramps throughout the game.
“We’ve got heart. I didn’t know if we had that, yet,” Behler said. “To sit in and just work and work tirelessly … I was proud of the effort. You can’t fault the effort.”
Ahead of Thursday’s game with Henry Clay, Dunbar lost 2-1 to 43rd District rival Lafayette on Tuesday. A week ago, the Blue Devils walloped Lafayette 5-1. Those results did not bode well for Dunbar’s chances against the Blue Devils.
“Coming into the game, I was just hoping we would hold up our end of the bargain,” Dunbar coach James Wray said. “After the Lafayette game … that was the first time they’d been hit in the mouth this year, so I told them it was a crossroads. We could go up from there or we could spiral down. And to their credit, we talked about our game plan for the night, and they came out and played it perfectly.”
Player tribute to the late Noah Tinch
Before the game and during halftime, Henry Clay and Dunbar paid tribute to Blue Devils alumnus Noah Tinch, who died this summer in a fishing accident. The halftime tribute included a video of teammates offering their remembrances of Tinch.
Before his graduation in 2024, Tinch raised money to help underprivileged children attend summer soccer camps at both Henry Clay and Dunbar. In his memory, the “Live Like Noah Project” aims to provide scholarships to student athletes. The fund can be found via Venmo at @livelikenoahproject.
This story was originally published August 29, 2025 at 8:22 AM.
