[GOREDDEVILS]

Boyd County 3

Greenup County 2

East Carter 10

Rose Hill 0

Ashland vs Boyd County @ 6 tomorrow

Russell vs East Carter @ 6 tomorrow

[GOREDDEVILS]

Ashland 3

Boyd county 0

Russell 1

East Carter 0


Russell @ Ashland 7 pm tomorrow for the district championship

[GOREDDEVILS]

Ashland 3

Russell 1 Congrats Ashland I'm sure Russell will see you again in the regional unless Rowan County gets one of us first.

[GOREDDEVILS]

Late goals lift Tomcats to title
Aaron Snyder
Ashland — A senior-laden Tomcats soccer team had a goal at the beginning of the season — to go into the 11th Region tournament as 22nd District champions.

Mission accomplished.

Ashland defeated defending district champions Russell, 3-1, to earn the 22nd district crown at Ashland Blazer High School Wednesday night.

The title is the Tomcats’ first since 2006.

“Ashland needs to be playing for the district championship every year,” said Ashland coach Ken Wheeler.

After a first half of getting accustomed to wet field conditions in cold weather, both offenses made some noise in the second segment.

Ashland senior Tyler Woford, who scored a goal in the first round against Boyd County, solidly struck a 20-foot attempt on which Russell goalkeeper Jon Fullen made a diving stop to keep the game scoreless.

However, Fullen could not make a catch on the ball, and the ricochet led to a goal by Aaron Wheeler, who broke free from two Red Devils to score.

Russell responded 10 minutes later, as T.J. Sloan ripped Russell’s only goal on a penalty kick, tying the game at 1-1.

That’s when the Corey Salow show began.

Salow, a senior for the Tomcats, was on the receiving end of an excellent move by Will Skaggs to get free as Skaggs found his teammate for the go-ahead goal with 21 minutes remaining.

“That was a perfect pass,” said Salow, who was named the district tournament’s Most Valuable Player. “It just came right through there to my right foot.”

Salow jumped on another chance to score with 15 minutes left as he tapped in his second goal with the outside of his right foot. The assist went to Wes Griffith.

Salow celebrated by sliding stomach-first on the wet turf.

“I just beat (the defender) to the ball on that one,” Salow said.

Winning the MVP award did not mean as much to Salow as his team having a win going into the region tournament.

“I just went out there to win for my team,” he said. “They have to give (the MVP) to one person, but it was a team effort. When we play our best soccer, it’s going to be tough to beat us.”

Russell (7-9-2) came off an exhausting win over East Carter that went down to the wire on Tuesday night.

“We had a long night (Tuesday) night,” said Russell coach Joe Grizzle. “The guys might have been a little sluggish today, but we still played hard.”

Russell lost sophomore defender Andreas Zambos near the end of the first half to a hip flexor injury.

“(Zambos’ injury) really hurt us,” Grizzle said. “He’s got a lot of speed back there. (Ashland) got right on that like a magnet on metal. They exposed that side. We’re hoping he’ll be able to play in the region.”

Russell had a few chances slip away in the first half. Perhaps the closest opportunity came on a free kick, when junior Tanner Locey booted the ball on a B-line to the top of the net, but Ashland goalkeeper Kyle Hacker swatted it back over the crossbar like a defensive back in football.

Near the end of the first half, Skaggs found himself in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper until Russell’s Drew Virgin flew to the ball, sliding in to break up the chance, leaving the game scoreless at halftime.

Wheeler hopes Ashland can keep its momentum going into region play.

“I’m very happy with my team,” Wheeler said. “We can be pretty dangerous.”