On Wednesday night, the Girls First Region soccer tournament came down to a winner-takes-all championship match, as the McCracken County Lady Mustangs took on the defending champion Marshall County Lady Marshals. After falling to the Lady Marshals three times this season, the Lady Mustangs would get the job done with the stakes at their highest, picking up a late goal to earn a 1-0 win and their second regional title in three seasons.
“It’s just a great feeling. I told the girls to go out and make their own legacy tonight, and that’s exactly what they did,” McCracken County head coach Mike Lane said. “They left it all out on the field, and gave it 110% all night...They proved any nay-sayers wrong, and truly deserve to be where they’re at now.”
Across an intense, physical first half, the Lady Marshals and Lady Mustangs went end-to-end, looking to jump out to an early advantage. While chances fell to both sides, including a curling chance for Maddy Ledgerwood which settled just over the crossbar, nothing would find the back of the net as the half continued to wind down. After a net-front scramble for the Lady Marshals came up empty late in the half, the two would head to the break still scoreless.
Once play resumed, scoring chances came early and often, with a pair of opportunities for McCracken through Ava Englert turned away by the Marshall defense. From there, the Lady Marshals would go on the attack, putting pressure on McCracken’s back line, nearly taking the lead through an open net opportunity for Addi Wall shortly after. Keeping the pressure on, Marshall would again nearly capitalize on chaos in the 18-yard box; after a shot from Chaney Green struck the crossbar and stayed in play, Wall would collide with McCracken keeper Addi Smith chasing down the rebound, which was quickly cleared to safety by the Lady Mustang defense.
“These girls are resilient, they’re troopers, and they know how to thrive and survive in these kinds of games,” Lane said. “We told our defenders all night to stick together, not let them spread us out, and to keep a high line on them. They did a great job, and executed the game plan to a T.”
With zeroes still on the scoreboard as the clock continued to wind down, the pace and physicality of the action only picked up. However, just as the two sides seemed destined for extra time, the Lady Mustangs found just the chance they were looking for with six minutes on the clock. On a ball lifted into the box, a miscue by the Lady Marshal defense saw a loose ball fall straight to the feet of Maddie Ault at the back post, who tapped in the go-ahead goal.
“It was pure jubilation when that goal went in,” Lane said reflecting on Ault’s goal. “It was a huge sigh of relief. We carried that weight the whole game, wondering who’s going to score first, and when it was us, it was just total ecstacy.”
While the Lady Marshals threw everything they had forward, even connecting with the crossbar once again on a long-range shot, the equalizer would never come. Ault’s goal would hold up as the difference maker, sealing up the 1-0 win, sending the Lady Mustangs back to the State Tournament for the first time since 2023.
Next up for the Lady Mustangs, their first round opponent will come out of the Fourth Region, with a winner still to be decided between Greenwood and Bowling Green. Over the course of the season, the Lady Mustangs have met both of their potential opponents, to varying results; they’d open their season back in August with a 2-0 win over Bowling Green, but fell to Greenwood 2-0 early on in September.
Regardless of who it is across the field on the 20th, the goal for Lane and the Lady Mustangs is simple; survive and advance.
“We’re not done yet. At this point, it’s all about just doing what you have to do to win, survive, and move on to the next,” Lane concluded. “We’ve played both of them, we know what they’re about. Both of those games were battles, and we’re expecting nothing to change, no matter who we play.”