University Heights Academy will take on defending region champion Henderson County tonight in the Boys’ Region 2 Soccer Tournament championship in Henderson.
In a game filled with physical play, UHA survived the Madisonville-North Hopkins Maroons in the first semifinal game Wednesday night, 2-1.
The teams played to a 0-0 tie through the first half before the Blazers broke through in the opening 40 seconds of the second half.
Hayden Hunt scored on a corner kick from Graham Conrad to push UHA into the 1-0 advantage.
Madisonville scored a few minutes later and the teams continued their physical play.
Finally, with 22 minutes left, UHA used a penalty kick by Cal Givens to take a 2-1 advantage.
From there, the Blazers’ defense led by Clayton Lester, who is celebrating his 18th birthday today, turned away every Maroons’ chance the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, Henderson County scored four goals in the second half and eliminated Hopkinsville 7-1.
Henderson improved to 10-10 on the season and will play UHA (17-6) at 7 p.m. tonight for the region championship. The two teams met last month at UHA with the Blazers winning 3-1.
It will be the first region championship appearance in five years for the Blazers, who last won the region title in 2008.
File Photo