MAYFIELD — Undoubtedly, it appears the days of defending 2nd District girls soccer champion Murray High running roughshod over next-door-neighbor Calloway County in matches are over. In the past two seasons, the gap between these two programs has indeed closed. No longer are the Lady Tigers winning by scores of 5-0 or 7-0, as was the case in previous years.
And the Lady Lakers are actually making their rivals and their fanbase a bit nervous during matches, as evidenced by a penalty-kicks shootout loss in a match earlier this season, followed by Calloway erasing a two-goal deficit in the second half of another match before Murray High broke a tie in the final 15 minutes. Yes, the times have changed. However, one thing remains constant, and it happened again Wednesday.
Murray High is still winning these matches and, while it was in not nearly as dominant fashion as past years, the Lady Tigers will take a 2-0 win in the semifinals of the Kentucky 2nd District Championship at Bill Hale Field in Mayfield. “We knew they were going to come out fired up for this one,” said Murray High Head Coach Michael Mangold, whose team (12-5-1) not only won for the fourth time against Calloway (11-8) this season but also put itself in position to achieve its ultimate goal for this week. “We’re here to defend our title (after breaking Marshall County’s six-year hold on that crown last year at Draffenville), so we weren’t going to back down for a second.
” Murray High showed that in .