The Hopkinsville Tigers decided that they were not ready for their soccer season to end just yet. The Tigers have advanced to the final four for the first time in program history, after they knocked off Butler 2-1, winning 6-5 on penalty kicks on a cold night Saturday at Lexington Lafayette. It was sort of an appropriate way for the Tigers to advance to their first ever semifinal berth, after they lost a heartbreaker in penalty kicks to Warren Central in last year’s semi-state contest.
The game was hard fought and tightly contested throughout, and was not decided until the 6th penalty kick from Louisville Butler decided not to spin across the goal line after being deflected by Hopkinsville goalie Xavier Bussell.
Butler opened the game being the aggressor, keeping the Tigers back on their heels a bit for the first 15 minutes or so of the match. Hopkinsville then turned the table and spent much of the rest of the first half on the attack in Butler’s end of the field. Hopkinsville finally broke through when Ryan Roussel rebounded his own miss on the left side of the goal. Rousell took his second shot from the left side, with the ball deflecting off the left post and then finding the lower right corner of the net to give Hopkinsville a 1-0 lead at the 24:03 mark.
The teams battled for the rest of the half, with neither being able to find the net. Hopkinsville left the field at the break with their 1-0 lead, and the large and loud Hopkinsville contingent in the stands roaring their approval.
Hopkinsville continued to control the match in the first part of the second half, but could not get the ball in the net to extend the lead. Late in the half, Butler became the aggressor, as they had been at the start of the match. The increased intensity payed off for the Bears as Anthony Huitron scored an unassisted goal at 72:35 to tie the match at 1-1.
Butler kept up the pressure, trying to pull out the match in the final minutes of regulation. However, Xavier Bussell was able to come up with some big saves in the final minutes to help the Tigers sent the match to overtime. Bussell was credited with nine saves on the night.
The two teams traded shots in the two five minute sudden death overtime periods, with players from both sides making big plays. Bussell continued to be solid in goal for the Tigers. Hopkinsville also got big efforts down the stretch from Tyler Greenwell, Zach Moore, Steven Hermosillo, and Ryan Roussel. With neither team being able to find the net in overtime, it would move to penalty kicks to decide which team would advance to the final four of the state tournament.
During the penalty kick round, it appeared like the match might go on for an extended period of time, as each team made their first set of five shots. Hopkinsville got their goals from Moore, Roussel, Mason Rye, Greenwel, and Welby Horn.
When the second set of five got underway, Mason Marschand drilled his kick into the net, setting up one of the biggest moments in Hopkinsville soccer history. As the Butler player tried to get his kick into the lower left corner, Xavier Bussell got a hand on the ball. The whistle did not immediately blow as the ball continued to spin. The ball finally stopped outside the net, and the celebration was on for the Tigers and their boisterous fans, who had erupted into wild cheering.
The Tigers improve to 19-6-2 on the season, and will now advance to the semifinal round Thursday evening at Frederick Douglas High School, where they will take on Highlands, who advanced to the semifinals with a 3-0 win over Daviess County.
