DENNISTON | The internal motor in Fleming County’s boys’ soccer team came to life in the second half and overtime periods of Monday’s 61st District tournament semifinal game at Menifee County’s Botts Elementary School and the result was a 2-1 double-overtime victory over rival Bath County.

The third-seeded Wildcats were the more aggressive team early on and maintained that high level of intensity throughout the contest. Bath County’s Justin Rawlings scored to give his team a 1-0 advantage at the 18:48 mark and that lead held up for more than 40 minutes until the Panthers were able to tally the equalizer.

At halftime, Fleming County coach Pete Morgan knew what he needed his club to do.

“We really felt like they were going to keep the intensity up and we had to match that. We wanted to play with a controlled passion,” he said. “It’s that fire that burns real deep in you. They were sitting back a little bit and we knew that if we could find a seam, we could (score). We just had to match their passion.”

Fleming County held an 11-6 edge in shots in the second half as the Panthers peppered away at the Wildcat net, but did not break through until junior Ethan Duncan dribbled through a slew of Bath County defenders and blasted a shot to the right of Wildcat goalkeeper Jakob White in the 62nd minute.

“I think in the second half we really played together as a team. It wasn’t just one player. We started to move the ball a little bit better (than the first half),” Morgan said. “We tightened up our marks in the back which was a big thing. In the midfield we lessened our touches and played better to feet, rather than just kicking it forward.”

The score remained knotted at 1-1 through the end of regulation and the first five-minute overtime period.

The Panthers kept the ball in the Wildcat defensive end for most of the overtime and on their sixth shot, freshman Keegan Duncan was able to slip one past White to give his team the win.

With 2:18 to play in the second overtime, Henry Cho played a ball forward to Duncan, who dribbled through the defense and from 18-yards out on the right side of the box blasted a shot to the left post that glanced off the hands of a diving White.

“We got it past half (field), so I just came in and made a run at the 18 (yard line). (Cho) sent me a through ball so I just kicked it in,” the younger Duncan said. “Our touches and our passing were put together pretty well to make that play happen.”

Fleming County held Bath County without a shot in the overtime periods. It finished the game with a 21-10 edge in shots.

It marked the third straight year that the Panthers defeated the Wildcats in the district semifinals and the second time during that stretch that the margin was just one goal.

“I give all of the credit in the world to Fleming County. They played tough. We’ve played them three times this year and lost by one goal each time,” Bath County coach Chris Roussos said. “Basically, it boils down to they really wanted it. Our kids wanted it, but I thought Fleming County wanted it more. We gave it our all. To lose in the last few minutes of the second overtime on a golden goal, on a great shot from that kid, our kids did really well. I’m really proud of my kids. The ones who aren’t seniors, they’ve got something to learn from this.”

The victory guarantees the Panthers a third consecutive berth to the 16th Region tournament. It also gave Fleming County its first 10-win season in school history.

The second-seeded Panthers advance to face defending district champion Rowan County, a 6-1 winner over host Menifee County in Monday’s opener, on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Botts Elementary School.

Bath County 1 0 0 0 — 1

Fleming County 0 1 0 1 — 2

BC – Justin Rawlings, 18:48

FC – Ethan Duncan, 61:37

FC – Keegan Duncan, 77:18

Records: Bath County 6-10-2, Fleming County 10-6-3.