St. Xavier and Trinity boys soccer battle to draw with postseason weeks away
In a clash between two Louisville boys soccer powers just three weeks before the Seventh Region final, Trinity and St. Xavier were evenly matched Wednesday night as they played to a 2-2 draw.
Junior midfielder Grayson Travis put Trinity ahead early 2-0 on two penalty kicks in a span of three minutes. The Shamrocks took that lead into halftime.
St. Xavier dug deep and controlled possession to start the second half, though. The defending region champions got on the board with a goal from senior Max Newman within the first 10 minutes of the half, and senior striker Trip Campbell followed with his 10th goal of the season moments later to level it to 2-2.
“I wanted it so badly — I started sprinting to the box and when I saw it lay off to me I knew I had to put that in," he said.
The Tigers, he believes, have what it takes to reach the state final for the second year in a row.
“We definitely need to start off strong and finish strong,” Campbell said. “We haven’t really pulled two halves together but as soon as we get that past, we are going to the finals.”
St X head coach Andy Schulten said the Tigers showed resiliency after trailing 2-0 heading into the break. They showed what they're capable of in the second half.
“Nobody is harder on us than we are, and they were really down at halftime. They knew that they let each other down,” Schulten said. “They showed tremendous character coming back from a two-goal deficit against a team of the caliber of Trinity. Kudos to Trinity, they did to us what we like to do to other teams, they pressed us into making all sorts of mistakes. I tried to tell my guys, at this level soccer is a thinking man's game more then it’s a physical and talented game. And we have to be on the same page."
Newman and Campbell are viewed as leaders on the team for a reason, he added. They give St. Xavier its heart and soul.
“You can’t replace those guys," Schulten said. "They both left it on the field. There’s a reason their teammates voted them to be captains."
For Trinity, it was redemption for Travis. The midfielder had missed a key penalty kick early in the season. Wednesday night, he scored two against rival St. X.
“You have got to stay calm under pressure,” Travis said. “That’s exactly what I did. Once you score it feels amazing going down and celebrating with your team. It was awesome.”
Travis felt the game showed Trinity could make a strong run in the postseason.
“This performance tonight showed that we can compete with the best, and if we can compete like this in postseason then we will be just fine," he said "As long as we cut those bad 15 minutes, I think we can win the whole thing.”
Making it out of the Seventh Region is no easy task. Schulten called it a “minefield."
“I do feel like we have a lot to improve on before we see the likes of Trinity, Collegiate and Ballard," he said "We still have a tough week-and-a-half of the regular season and then we’re in tournament play, so its good to have a challenge like this towards the end of the season to highlight what we need to work on.”
St. Xavier (12-2-3) is back in action at noon Saturday against Montgomery County. Trinity (11-2-3) will take on Male at 11 a.m. Saturday.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA boys soccer: St. Xavier and Trinity play to 2-2 tie
