MURRAY— Murray High concluded a superb boys soccer regular season Thursday night with 7-1 victory over Paducah Tilghman at the Mallary France Soccer Complex.
That win gives the Tigers a 19-1 mark so far this season as postseason play arrives next week. The Blue Tornado, much improved this season evens its mark at 6-6-1.
The Tigers did not waste time in taking command of this contest, scoring four goals in the opening 25 minutes of play. Tiger Head Coach Jared Rosa also made certain that as many of his reserves saw action in this match as possible.
Max Rosa had a hat trick, plus one, in this win with two of those four goals coming within seconds of one another seven minutes into the match. That followed Jimmy Kjellberg’s goal that started the scoring five minutes into the match.
Nate Wyatt’s goal with 15 minutes left in the first half padded the lead to 4-0 by halftime. Rosa scored his third and fourth tallies early in the second half and it was left to Preston Key to end the scoring with about 15 minutes remaining in the last scheduled match of this season at Mallary France, though postseason could change that after Murray High’s girls hosted last year’s Region 1 Final Four.
PRINCETON — Road ventures to historic Butler Stadium in downtown Princeton have proven treacherous, over the years, for Calloway County in boys soccer as the host Tigers have given the Lakers some very close contests.
That was not the case Thursday night as the Lakers finished a very impressive regular season with a 13-3-1 record, taking a 2-0 lead into halftime, then imposing their will on the Tigers (3-10-2) in the second half. Oscar Avila had two goals in the win, while Zak Stark, Pablo Duque Iglesias, Ivan Damian, Canaan Bazzell and Yoni Damian all had a goal apiece.
Avila and Yoni also had two assists apiece, while Cole Thomas, Filipe Bertolini also had passes leading to goals.
Lady Lakers run into hot Marshall
MURRAY — Two of the hottest teams in western Kentucky high school volleyball were both in Murray Thursday night.
One of those teams, Marshall County, came to the Calloway Auxiliary Gymnasium for a 4th District matchup with the Lady Marshals looking to remain perfect in district play, and they did just that.
Marshall won for the ninth straight outing in running its season mark to 12-3 and 6-0 in the district and is three matches up in the loss column for first place. The Lady Marshals started with losses in two of their first matches this season.
Calloway, which had a program-best season in 2023, sweeping the district with a perfect 6-0 record and earning the top seed in the district tournament for the first time in school history. now stands at 1-4 in the district and 6-12 overall after beating district opponent Christian Fellowship in straight sets earlier this week, also in Murray.
Lady Tigers takes their cuts, but
can’t hang with tough Mayfield
MURRAY — The other hot team that was in Murray Thursday night was Mayfield, owner of Kentucky Region 1’s best record last season.
The Lady Cardinals may not reach 29 wins like 2023, but they are very formidable as they showed in a straight-sets win at Taylor Gymnasium/Rechelle Turner Court by scores of 25-12, 25-21, 25-15. Mayfield (18-7) has now won six of its last seven matches, while the Lady Tigers saw a two-match winning streak end in falling to 13-10.
Murray High Head Coach Carey Alexander said the Lady Cardinals’ defense was particularly impressive on Thursday as, in his words, ‘They never let the ball hit the floor.” However, he said his team was feisty and fought the bigger and more-experienced Lady Cardinals the whole way, with sophomore Deniah Tukasingura earning praise for her efforts at the net, as well as eighth grader Journie Merriss for her serving ability.
Lady Tigers ruin Senior Night
for Trigg County in Cadiz
CADIZ — After breaking a season-long three-match losing streak Saturday with a home win over Paducah Tilghman, Murray High extended a winning streak Monday night.
In the process, the Lady Tigers wrecked Senior Night festivities for host Trigg County with a straight-sets victory that marked their 13th of the season.
No set scores were available but Alexander said all three sets were quite lopsided in favor of the Lady Tigers Macy Chiles had nine kills, while Olivia Smee had seven of her team’s 18 service aces. Allison Rossi had five kills, while Allie Vonnahme had 15 assists.