FLOYDS KNOBS

With one more win, Seymour’s girls soccer team can bring home a trophy.

The Owls took care of business Thursday night, scoring one goal in the first half and two more in the second half for a 3-0 victory over Jennings County in the Sectional 15 semifinals.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

Click here to purchase photos from this gallery

Seymour (13-4-2) will face host Floyd Central at 2 p.m. Saturday for the title.

“It’s always nice to earn your way into the finals, winning the two games to get there instead of just one game and you’re in. We definitely earned our way in,” Seymour coach Greg Musser said. “We’ve played pretty well for the last two games, and we’re going to have to take care of some nicks and dings, and hopefully, we’ll be ready to go on Saturday.”

Musser knew the Panthers would put up a good fight.

“It’s always tough to beat a team twice,” he said. “They have some film, they have some inspiration to come after you, and I thought our girls responded well. We had some moments where we allowed Jennings County to outwork us a little bit, and we reminded them of the approach we needed at halftime, and I thought they responded well in the second half and buried two goals early for us and kind of took control of the game.”

After the Panthers controlled the ball in the opening seconds and missed a shot, the Owls quickly moved the ball to their end of the field, and Bailey Lykins’ shot was stopped by the Jennings County goalie.

Seymour outshot the Panthers 15-6 for the night. Seven different Owls attempted shots during the first half, but they were either wide or high of the net or Panther goalie Tori Lee stopped them.

Alyssa Perry, who celebrated a birthday after the match, had a free kick from left of the goal with eight minutes remaining, but her kick sailed over the net.

A few possessions later, Perry moved the ball toward the goal, then advanced it to Lillie Wessel, who put it in the net with 2:21 on the clock.

The Owls were in the driver’s seat for good after that.

Three minutes into the second half, the Owls attempted a shot, but the ball bounced away, and Lykins controlled the ball and put it in the goal for a 2-0 lead with 36:40 remaining.

The Owls attempted two corner kicks halfway through the second half before Kylee Nowling was driving down the right side of the field and crossed the ball to Perry in the middle, and she scored at 19:05 to close the scoring.

Musser said the Owls had good execution on the third goal.

“It was a great time to run to Kylee at half field, and she came and threw the ball in once she beat somebody one-on-one, and it was right place at the right time for Alyssa,” he said. “She didn’t hesitate and just buried the ball in the corner and had a nice little birthday present for us.”

Musser said the Owls will need to pick up their intensity in the finals against Floyd Central, which defeated Jeffersonville 4-0 on Thursday in the late match.

“We’re going to have to make sure we’re ready to play. I thought when we played them earlier in the year, we were a little flat,” he recalled. “We kind of took their pressure the first 15, 20 minutes and conceded a goal. Then we sort of settled into half, and then we came out in the second half and gave up two really quick goals (lost 4-0.) They are a very talented team, and we just need to find our shape.”