It was the 1st Region that came out on top of the 2nd Region Tuesday night in a battle of regional contenders on the pitch at University Heights Academy. Marshall County controlled the flow of play from the beginning of the match on their way to a 5-0 win over the Blazers, using four second half goals to put the match away.
The Marshall County defense, especially in the mid-field, kept UHA from getting many scoring chances, and put the clamps on the Blazer’s William Bryan all night long. For the match, Marshall County took 43 shots on goal, while limiting University Heights to just seven.
Even with the shot differtential, the Blazers found themselves in the thick of the match until well into the second half of play.
Collin Riley got the Marshals on the board in the first half. Riley took a pass from the right side of the field as he was coming down the middle and found the net to give Marshall County a 1-0 lead at the 27:00 mark.
While the Marshals continued their attacking offense, that would be the only goal of the half, as the two teams went to the break at 1-0. The Marshals took 17 shots in the opening half, while limiting the Blazers to just two shots.
The match stayed 1-0 until just over 12 minutes into the second half. At 52:47, Riley was on a run down the left side for the Marshals and found the net again to push the lead out to 2-0. Marshall County then effectively put the dagger in the Blazers hopes at the 63:45 mark when Jack Noles scored from the right side to make it three to nothing.
Marshall County would add goals from Pratik Patel at 64:10 and at 70:20 to round out the scoring.
The Marshals managed to lockdown the Blazers frontal attacking group of William Bryan, Connor Dill, and Elvin Wagner. The Blazers’ Quinton Quarles gave a valiant effort in goal, but the Marshall County constant pressure eventually found its way through.
UHA drops to 7-2 with the loss.
