Ryan Roussel came through with his 100th career goal in dramatic fashion to send the Hopkinsville Tigers past Calloway County 2-1 on Tuesday night, giving the program its first-ever victory in the state tournament round of 16.
The win comes at the expense of a Laker program also looking for their inaugural tourney win, and propels the Tigers to a meeting on Saturday with the Butler Bears — 3-1 winners over Elizabethtown.
After a scoreless first half that saw the Tigers outshoot the Lakers 6-5, including a free kick off the crossbar from Roussel, Steven Hermosillo broke the deadlock in the 55th minute. Hermosillo pounced on a rebound at the far post after Calloway goalkeeper Kurtis Palmer couldn’t hold a shot by Zach Moore from a short corner.
The Lakers ramped up the pressure, with leading scorer Jacob Smith finding the far side netting with his left foot to knot the game at 1-1 with 11:36 to play.
Just over 2 minutes later, Roussel turned hero when he took a pass from Moore and split two defenders before scoring from close range.
The Lakers would push for the goal to send the match to overtime, but Tiger goalkeeper Xavier Bussell denied Smith’s volley attempt and a follow-up shot and the Hoptown defense saw out the milestone victory.
Calloway managed 11 shots on goal to Hopkinsville’s 9, with Bussell making 10 saves.
Roussel becomes the second Tiger to reach 100 goals for his career, joining Austin Bucko who netted 159 from 2010-13.
