Haiden Ball moved from midfield to more of a striker position, and responded with a hat trick in Caldwell County’s 6-1 victory over Paducah Tilghman.
Ball scored the first two goals of the match and added another in the second half at Butler Stadium in Princeton.
Caldwell outshot Tilghman 17-8 while improving to 4-7-2 on the season. However, two of those losses are COVID forfeits.
The Blue Tornado fell to 0-9-1.
It was just the third win ever over Tilghman for Caldwell.
Ball netted his first goal in the 23rd minute, taking a pass from Blake Vivrette and creating a shot on the right side that found the far side of the night.
Ball added another goal just before halftime, scoring in the 38th minute on a penalty kick to put the Tigers up 2-0.
Tilghman looked to make a game of it early in the second half. Nolan Waller found the net in the 41st minute to quickly trim the margin to 2-1.
But Caldwell finished the night strong to put away the win.
Vivrette scored on a free kick from about 30 yards out in the 46th minute to make it a 3-1 contest.
Ball’s third goal came in the 54th minute with help from Christian Jones. Ball beat a defender in the box then got a shot around the goalkeeper to extend the margin to 4-1.
Caldwell continued to attack late in the game.
Grayden Miller scored in the 78th minute with help from Weston Phelps to make it 5-1.
Miller struck again in the 79th minute. This time, he headed home Tyler Linton’s corner kick to push the final score to 6-1.
Corbin Nichols recorded four saves in the Caldwell net.
The Tigers will play again on Thursday when they visit Paducah St. Mary as part of a girls and boys varsity doubleheader.
