Pendleton County’s Delaney Thompson lines up a kick in the first round of the 38th district tournament on October 7, 2024.
Mason County’s Madison Thomas works against the Lady Cats’ Addison Wright in the first round of the 38th district tournament on October 7, 2024.
The Mason County Lady Royals took to Pendleton County to take on the Lady Cats in the first round of the 38th district girls soccer tournament on Monday.
Throughout 2024, Mason County has proven their strength on the soccer field, having defeated both the Lady Cats in a 6-1 victory, and the Fillies with a 4-2 win early in the season. The Lady Royals entered the tournament 3-0 in the district and 11-4-2 on the year, the fourth best team in the 10th region in RPI. Their strong season record, combined with the knowledge of defeating both teams that have ever won the 38th district gave Mason County a huge amount of confidence heading into the contest, and were hoping to pull out another win to advance to the championship game this evening.
In the first half, both teams played tough, with both Mason County and Pendleton County able to work past the opposition’s defense, scoring two goals each. In the first half, Mason County’s Zoey Hamilton and Harley Durham Campbell both scored, sending a goal into the net to bring Mason County’s score to two. Simultaneously, Pendleton County refused to allow Mason County to pull ahead, keeping the contest tied 2-2 heading into halftime.
“First half I think we were a little more locked in, second half there were certain things that were a little off tonight, but I still feel like second half we brought it, we brought a little bit more, we had a lot more chances we just couldn’t finish them.” said Lady Royals head coach, Amy Cottam.
In the second half, both teams continued to fight against one another, neither able to work past the opposition’s defense. At the end of regulation, Mason County goalkeeper Kaelynn Henning picked up nine goalkeeper saves, both teams remaining tied 2-2 at the end of the second half, pushing the contest into overtime.
Both teams continued to hang tough throughout both of the five minute overtimes, neither able to score a goal, both unwilling to give up. Both the Lady Royals and Lady Cats were hungry for a shot at the 38th district championship game, and battled against one another to send the contest to a penalty kick shootout.
Henning was able to block two of the Lady Cats’ penalty kicks throughout the shootout, but Mason County’s strikers were only able to score twice, allowing Pendleton County to take the contest 3-2 after a grueling, cold contest spanning 80 minutes of regulation, double overtime and a penalty kick shootout.
“I’m just mostly disappointed, especially for my seniors this year. We worked really hard, we had a good season this year and sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you want.” said coach Cottam.
Although Mason County’s season has come to an end, Coach Cottam and the Lady Royals have had a strong run throughout 2024, and have a lot to be proud of as they walk off the field for the last time this season. 11-5-2 on the year, and nearly undefeated against district opponents, the Lady Royals proved their strength throughout the entirety of the season, but luck just wasn’t on their side this go around.
“Overall we’ve had a lot of growth, I’m really proud of all the girls. It was hard losing one of my seniors, overall I’m proud of them, they’ve come a long way from where we started and unfortunately it just didn’t go our way tonight.” said coach Cottam.
Following this contest, the Lady Cats will go on to take on the winners of the St. Pat Lady Saints/ Harrison County Fillies game this evening on their home field at 7:00 p.m. for the 38th district championship game. Both teams will then go on to compete in the 10th region tournament, with brackets to be decided once district tournaments conclude.
