The Fern Creek High School boys soccer team’s four-year reign over the Sixth Region is officially over.
Butler knocked the crown off the king Thursday, putting together a dominating performance in a 3-0 victory over the Tigers in the semifinals of the Sixth Region Tournament at DeSales.
Bears coach Mario Carrillo was confident after a 3-0 regular-season victory over Fern Creek but also knew Thursday’s rematch was the one that mattered.
“If you want to be the man you have to beat the man,” Carrillo said. “Fern Creek has had an unprecedented run for four years, and until somebody beat them they were still the champion. We knew they were going to be a very, very tough team to play.”
Ranked No. 25 in the state, Butler (18-4-1) advanced to face Southern in Saturday’s 6 p.m. regional final at DeSales. Southern beat Fairdale 3-1 in Thursday’s other semifinal.
* Butler-Fern Creek: The Bears are in a regional final for the first time since falling to DeSales in the 2002 Seventh Region final.
Fern Creek coach John Pedro, whose team finished 10-4-3, has said all season that Butler was the team to beat in the region.
“They’re just like we were the last few years in that they have really good, solid players,” Pedro said. “They’re well-coached. I feel like the torch has been passed.”
The Bears took control with a pair of first-half goals. Hate Dieven scored on an assist from Irakoze Chartier in the 10th minute for a 1-0 lead. After a Chartier corner kick, freshman Cody Peace scored the first goal of his career in the 32nd minute for a 2-0 lead.
“I got lucky,” Peace said. “It just bounced off somebody, and I got the follow-up. … It’s a good feeling as a freshman.”
Added Carrillo: “The second one was what really gave us the extra boost you want in a game like this. And you could see it deflated Fern Creek a little bit.”
Chartier, a sophomore with a team-high 31 goals, didn’t score Thursday but played a big part with the assists on both first-half goals.
Carrillo said Chartier has the potential to be one of the best forwards in Louisville the next two seasons.
“He commands a lot of attention because of how he plays,” Carrillo said. “The way he looks at it is that if he doesn’t score he doesn’t have a good game. But that’s a striker’s mentality. But he affects the game in so many ways because defenses have to know where he is, which creates space for other guys.”
Fern Creek managed three shots in the second half but never could break through. Aung Win’s goal in the 78th minute sealed the victory for Butler.
Pedro, whose team will return eight starters next season, said his team was flat to start the game.
“It doesn’t do us any good to give them two goals right off the bat,” he said. “I really feel like we didn’t play to our potential until after this two goals were scored. We ended up chasing the game after that.”
* Southern-Fairdale: The Trojans (13-2-4) are in the regional final for the first time since restarting their program in 2007.
“I’m very happy because we worked very hard to get this,” first-year coach Javier Rodriguez-Mola said. “The school has never had this, and the kids played very well.”
The Trojans took a 1-0 lead just 65 seconds into the match after David Byosse fired a shot that was knocked away by Fairdale goalkeeper Caleb McGinty. Steven Sanchez knocked in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs (7-7-2) tied the score in the 27th minute on Omar Mukoma’s penalty kick. It was the fourth goal of the regional tournament for Mukoma, a sophomore.
Byosse’s goal in the 43rd minute was the game-winner for Southern. Noor Zaidan’s goal in the 79th minute completed the scoring.
Jason Frakes can be reached at (502) 582-4046 and jfrakes@courier-journal.com.