The Elizabethtown Panthers came into the 2021 season with only history to beat. Last year, they became the first boys team in the 5th Region to win three straight Region Championships and once again they did it with ease. However No team had ever done it FOUR Straight years in the 5th.
It wasn’t like they hadn’t tried.
Going back through history (more recent history), Bethlehem 2005-2006, John Hardin 2007-2008, Central Hardin (2013-2014) and North Hardin (2015-2016) had all won it twice in succession, but getting that third year just didn’t happen and the reasons were many, but perhaps the biggest was the loss of key senior personnel.
Panther head coach Corey Yates understood this and knew that the team he had returning was going to be competitive because of the great young talent coming up, but would the loss of ten seniors (mostly key starters) play a huge role in their success this season?
It didn’t seem to matter much early on as Elizabethtown ran through their first five opponents outscoring them 32-1. Then the first ripple in the regular season was a first place showdown with the other team which had an unbeaten record in the District as well against North Hardin at home. In a tough and physical defensive struggle, the Trojans came away with a 2-1 win in a shoot-out. It was the first District loss for Yates’ team since 2018 and they followed that up with a 3-0 loss against defending state champions St. X.
There was certainly no reason to feel insult to losing to St. Xavier, but the Trojan loss may have played a key role in the Panthers fortunes for the rest of the season as it gave the team and their coach a moment to regroup and refocus.
Regardless of the reasons, after a loss to Marshall County on September 4th at the Purples Classic, Elizabethtown would not lose again.
Seven straight wins set up a big showdown against Central Hardin on the road and this time the Bruins were ready. A furious defensive struggle nearly ended as Central Hardin put the first goal on the board with a shot by Weston Bowman with a little less than a minute remaining. It looked like the Panthers were looking at their first loss in several weeks that’s when the Panthers refused to die and tied things up on an Eli Been goal. After two straight scoreless extra innings led to a shoot out situation and Elizabethtown once again showed that they had learned from their previous failures by outshooting the Bruins 3-0. The celebration lasted quite a while, but up next was a first place showdown with the North Hardin Trojans.
Once again, the Panthers responded to the situation and the defense threw a shutout against the stingy Trojans scorers. Goalkeeper Jackson Holt, who was the defensive star in the Central Hardin shootout only had to make three saves and Coach Yates told his team that it was one of the best defensive efforts of the year and behind two goals by Cole Varela and one by Kobe Ryan Elizabethtown pulled away with a 3-0 win.
After that, the District was an exercise for the Panthers with two 5-1 wins over John Hardin in the Semi-Finals and then Central Hardin in the District Championship. In the playoffs, Dylan Barnes continued emergence as a scoring star with 5-of the team’s ten goals. Between Barnes (29-goals) and Varela (30), the Panthers had a great One-Two punch as the team would eventually finish with 115-goals coming into the Region Tournament.
The Defense, which could have been a question mark turned in another great season allowing just 22-goals total coming into the 5th Region Tournament.
First order of business was game one against Bethlehem at North Hardin. The Eagles had put together a great season and a lighting issue forced a delay of their contest to be played the following day. When action did resume, the Panthers took a close game and finally pulled away on Varela’s two goals and Dylan Barnes two goals. The highlight was Barnes corner shot which was low and away and somehow found it’s way into the goal. The 4-1 win was the team’s 19th as the defense was smothering in the second half.
The Panthers were just one win away from achieving the unbelievable 4-Peat and once again they would have to wait for their date with destiny. Heavy rains had left the North Hardin field in a condition not fit for a championship game setting. So, game time was set at 1:00 at Nelson County high school’s turf field and Yates didn’t have to wait long to find out whether his team was ready or not.
Conner Goodman got loose and scored for the Panthers just two minutes into the first half.
Cole Varela followed with his first goal at 33:40 to make it Elizabethtown 2 Thomas Nelson 0.
Jack Robinson made it 3-0 at the 13:55 mark.
Varela got his second in the second half at the 21:35.
Finally Dylan Barnes ended the Panther scoring with his goal at 20:13.
Thomas Nelson got a couple of goals late in the game, but the game and history had already been decided.
The 5-2 win not only gave the Elizabethtown Panthers their fourth straight Region title, but also a bit of vindication for the team and their bright future. There’s no question that the Panthers have been the best team in the 5th for the past four (maybe five years), but sometimes the best team doesn’t always win it and you don’t have to tell Corey Yates that.
While Yates will have another trophy to add to their glass display case, both he and the team will now turn their attentions to an even bigger target, which is a KHSAA State Title and that all begins with a home date against Henderson County this Tuesday.
