Bryan Station’s double-overtime win serves as state tournament wake-up call
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bryan Station survived a 2OT win over Bishop Brossart and advanced to quarters.
- Coach Tungate called the match a wake-up call and plans extended preparation.
- Bryan Station ranks No. 8 and faces Ashland Blazer with semifinal path at stake.
Bryan Station has some time to prepare for its next opponent in the quarterfinals of the KHSAA Boys State Soccer Tournament.
The four days off between the Defenders’ 1-0 double-overtime win over Bishop Brossart on Monday and Saturday’s 4 p.m. home tilt against Ashland Blazer might seem like a vacation compared to last week’s whirlwind of three region tournament wins in five days.
After stunning No. 1 Henry Clay in the 11th Region championship in a penalty-kick shootout Friday, Bryan Station took the full 80 minutes plus nearly both five-minute overtimes to take down the visiting Mustangs 1-0 on Monday thanks to Lincoln Wallingford’s goal with 29.1 seconds left in the second OT.
“We just had a wake-up call. We realized this was it,” Wallingford said of his game-winner, which fell to him after the ball that was headed inside the box multiple times. Wallingford chested it down and fired a shot through traffic into the bottom left corner of the goal. “We have to win or go home, and we just came out with energy in the overtime.”
While happy with the win, Bryan Station coach Alex Tungate didn’t like how his team fell into playing the Mustangs’ game.
“I’ve got to do a better job of getting us prepped,” Tungate said. “I thought that we were in a good mindset. I do think that us being as close to our win over Henry Clay did not help. There wasn’t a whole lot of time to really absorb what had happened and kind of focus on the next thing. We literally played on the very next weekday. So at least in this case, we’re gonna have four days to actually prep and not have just a recovery day and one training session.”
Bryan Station’s team is athletic as any in the state, but it lacks height, which can hurt it against tall, physical teams, especially on corner kicks and other set pieces.
Although Bryan Station possessed the ball and generated more chances than Brossart (16-8-1), the Mustangs’ height advantage made any opportunity they generated dangerous.
“We like to keep the ball on the ground when we’re building offensively,” Tungate said. “And we turned the game into a super-direct game. And that’s not how we play. We do not win balls out of the air very well at all.”
With their win over Brossart, the Defenders (19-4-4) rose to No. 8 in the statewide Rundell Rankings amid a field that includes No. 2. St. Xavier, No. 4 Bowling Green, No. 5 South Oldham, No. 12 Owensboro, No. 17 Covington Catholic, No. 31 Ashland Blazer and No. 48 Prestonsburg.
Ashland Blazer’s last appearance in the state tournament came in 2023 when it lost 5-0 in the quarterfinals to another 11th Region champion, Lafayette, who later went on to finish as state runner-up. Three of the last four 16th Region champs have lost to a Lexington team in either the first round or quarterfinals.
The Tomcats have played two teams in the Rundell top 25 this season, both were 8-0 mercy rule losses — Warren Central on Aug. 30 and Bowling Green on Aug. 31.
If Bryan Station can win Saturday, their state semifinals opponent would be either St. Xavier or Bowling Green.
Regardless of the opponent or its ranking, Tungate knows hard work is ahead.
“In these types of games, our guys don’t have any experience,” Tungate said. “I think it’s very difficult for them to understand that, ‘Hey, you know, the 11th Region was tough, but this is going to be just as hard.’ Hopefully, this was a good wake-up call for us for our game on Saturday.”
KHSAA Boys State Soccer Tournament
MONDAY’S AND TUESDAY’S FIRST ROUND RESULTS
- Ashland Blazer 2, Oneida Baptist 1
- Bowling Green 1 vs. McCracken County 0 (5-3 PKs)
- Bryan Station 1, Bishop Brossart 0 (2OT)
- Owensboro 7, University Heights 0
- Prestonsburg 3, Powell County 1
- South Oldham 6, Central Hardin 1
- Covington Catholic, 3, West Jessamine 2 (4-3 PKs)
- St. Xavier 2, Butler 0.
SATURDAY’S QUARTERFINALS
- Ashland Blazer at Bryan Station, 4 p.m.
- St. Xavier at Bowling Green, 1 p.m.
- South Oldham at Owensboro, TBD .
- Covington Catholic at Prestonsburg, 3 p.m.
TUESDAY’S SEMIFINALS
At Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
- Bowling Green-St. Xavier winner vs. Bryan Station-Ashland Blazer winner, TBD.
- Owensboro-South Oldham winner vs. Prestonsburg-Jessamine winner, TBD.
SATURDAY’S FINAL
At Lexington Sporting Club Stadium
- Championship game, 4 p.m.
Rating the field
How the quarterfinalists in the KHSAA Boys State Soccer Tournament rate, according to the Rundell Rankings:
- No. 2 St. Xavier (20-2-3)
- No. 4 Bowling Green (17-1-0)
- No. 5 South Oldham (16-2-1)
- No. 8 Bryan Station (19-4-4)
- No. 12 Owensboro (19-2-2)
- No. 17 Covington Catholic (16-7-2)
- No. 31 Ashland Blazer (11-9-3)
- No. 48 Prestonsburg (21-2-0)
This story was originally published October 22, 2025 at 10:36 AM.
