Bryan Station knocks off No. 1 Henry Clay for first 11th Region boys soccer title
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bryan Station beat No.1 Henry Clay on penalties to win first 11th Region title
- Senior keeper Luke Majors made key saves and earned tournament MVP honors
- Bryan Station advances to state tourney and hosts Bishop Brossart Monday
Bryan Station rocked Kentucky high school boys soccer Friday night with a penalty kick shootout win over No. 1 Henry Clay, the defending state champions, to claim its first 11th Region crown in program history.
Luke Majors, Bryan Station’s senior goalkeeper, earned tournament MVP honors in the 1-0 (4-2 on penalty kicks) victory at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. He saved Henry Clay’s second kick from the spot and watched the Blue Devils’ fourth attempt roll wide of the left post, ending the contest.
“We knew it was going to be a battle from the start. We knew exactly what it’d be. We faced them twice. Believe. Believe. Believe,” said Majors, who rushed toward Bryan Station’s fans before he was swarmed by his teammates. “That’s all it is, really. We believed, no matter what, coming to this game. We knew it was ours to take. ...
“We just took down the defending state champs.”
History did not favor the Defenders. Bryan Station (18-4-4) had beaten the Blue Devils only three times over the past 23 years, according to KHSAA records. This year, Henry Clay (17-3-1) beat Station 3-1 in the regular season and 2-1 in the 42nd District tournament finals.
Before Monday, the Defenders, ranked No. 11 in the state by the online Rundell Rankings going into the matchup and No. 9 after, had never won a region tournament game. Now they have three region tourney wins and their first state tournament berth.
“This is such a big win for us and to be the first team to do it makes it even better,” said senior center back Joaquin Guerrant, who nailed his penalty kick as Bryan Station’s first man up ahead of teammates Steven Green III, Elkin Maldonado Trochez and Lincoln Wallingford.
Guerrant helped keep the game scoreless in the waning moments of regulation as he flung himself between the ball and the goal line during a quick Henry Clay counterattack. Guerrant went to ground to get in the way of Espoir Dieudonne’s shot. He ended up almost sitting on the ball, which gave Majors time to scoop it up.
“It was scary,” Guerrant said. “I just tried to get my foot across it, and it just happened to stay (in front) of me and I was just there.”
Majors denied Henry Clay’s next best scoring chances with about 15 minutes left in the first half as his kick save of Shukuru Hamisi’s shot deflected the ball off the crossbar. Braden Cundiff then had two follow-up attempts as the ball remained in play. The first struck Bryan Station’s collapsing defenders. Majors collected the second.
“They had the skill, but we knew if we put the effort in, especially defensively, we could win,” Majors said. “I’m so proud of our defense.”
Majors’ 10 shutouts rank among the state’s best. Henry Clay averaged 3.9 goals per game this season.
“He’s the best in the state. There’s no denying that,” Guerrant said of Majors. “I trust that man so much. He’s been my best friend for so long. I knew he was going to make a play for us.”
Henry Clay dominated the run of play most of the game, generating more possession, more attacking opportunities and more corners than Station. The Defenders pressed their opponents high in the Blue Devils’ defensive third during the early stages of the first half, but mostly bunkered in thereafter. The strategy paid off.
“It’s been a very long week, and I just kind of knew that the first 20 to 25 minutes was probably going to be the freshest we were going to be,” Bryan Station coach Alex Tungate said. “So we were going to put numbers forward and try to get something in there. Then, when we didn’t get that, we were going to have to settle in for a long night. I told the boys, ‘We’re going to play for 90 minutes tonight.’ …
“We have 20-plus players with a ton of heart who were willing to go toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team in the state. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Henry Clay coach Jason Behler, who has led the Blue Devils to two of the program’s four state titles, praised his team’s effort, but hated that the game ended in PKs.
“Luke’s a great, great goalkeeper. And, you know, penalty kicks are what they are. If I would have had my way, we would have played another 40 minutes,” Behler said. “But that’s how it goes. We played well — everything but the final piece was there. … Scoring goals is the hardest thing in soccer. We couldn’t do it tonight. Bryan Station played a terrific game.”
Despite being held on a Friday night usually reserved for football, the championship game drew an enthusiastic crowd filled with student and adult supporters of both teams.
“This was awesome. This is what we want for Bryan station,” Tungate said. “This is what we want for Lexington, and this is what we want for the state, you know, to have this level of interaction of fans coming out and supporting soccer. It was just fantastic.”
Bryan Station doesn’t have much time to celebrate. The Defenders will host 10th Region champion Bishop Brossart at 7 p.m. Monday in the state tournament’s first round. Because of how the tournament draw played out this year, Bryan Station could host both its first- and second-round games before the tourney moves on to Dunbar for the semifinals and LSC Stadium for the championship game.
All-region tournament team
Luke Majors (MVP), Elkin Maldonado Trochez, Steven Green III, and Chacha Mubelela, Bryan Station; Connor Taylor, Nathan Harvey and Jose Flores-Cruz, Henry Clay; Hassani Kalonda and Aiden Stark, Lafayette; James Barnett and Kalin Osting, Lexington Catholic; Zachary Link, Great Crossing; Kai Forsythe, Model; Phillip Kittrell, Frankfort; Nicky Knecht, Madison Central.
Next game
Boys State Soccer Tournament First Round
Monday: Bishop Brossart (16-7-1) at Bryan Station (18-4-4), 7 p.m.
