“What you accomplished is flat out remarkable.”
Notre Dame soccer coach Brian Woeste spoke those seven words after Sacred Heart eliminated the Pandas, 3-1, in Thursday’s KHSAA state soccer semifinals at Lexington Lafayette.
If you think about it, what Notre Dame did was special – considering where the Pandas’ program was in the summer.
“I didn’t know I was coaching,” Woeste said. “We didn’t have a staff, we had a bunch of players that weren’t even sure they were gonna play.”
Notre Dame’s postseason run was pretty good. The Pandas allowed just one goal in winning the 9th Region, and they outscored George Rogers Clark and South Laurel in the state tournament by a combined 15-0.
“And to come down here and have Sacred Heart on their heels for the last 25 minutes of an absolute battle of a game, I think it’s a remarkable accomplishment when you put that all in perspective where we started to where finished,” Woeste said.
The Valkyries are going to the finals largely because of junior striker Lilly Lund. She gave her team a 2-0 lead with goals in the 36th and 45th minutes and assisted in Mia Lancaster’s tally in the 49th.
Lund’s goals had a common thread – they were the byproduct of scrambles in front of Notre Dame’s net. Which is the way Lund likes it.
“A goal’s a goal if it’s messy or not,” Lund said. “I was just extremely happy. They can be some definitely fun and memorable goals there. Sometimes it’s funny; no one really knows who scores until you see it come off your foot.”
Notre Dame (21-4-2) opened with a 5-3-2 system because Woeste wanted to keep numbers behind the ball and force Lund and forwards Mary VonderHaar and Nora Dimmitt wide.
“It gave us opportunities to play wide, which we were looking for,” Brian Woeste said. “We had early chances out of it; we just didn’t get the bounce, to be honest with you, that we needed to finish.”
Lund’s first goal was the result of VonderHaar’s “beautiful ball.”
“It couldn’t have been any better,” Lund said. “I took it on. Our coach told us to go direct, so I dribbled (past) two or three players, and – goal.”
Riley Robertson scored Notre Dame’s lone goal from about 15 yards out in the 53rd minute.
“It was a good ball from Caroline Harper, and it was a lob over the first defender, and I just got a good touch on it and finished it,” Robertson said.
Sacred Heart (20-2-3) meets Bethlehem, a 3-0 semifinal winner over Boyle County, for the title at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Seven Notre Dame seniors – Harper, Eva Dozier, Hannah Renaker, Kimmie Woeste, Hannah Knapke, Carlyn Tranter and Hannah Holocher – completed their high school soccer careers. Coach Woeste told his team to “find joy” despite the loss.
“I find joy, I think, in the relationships I’ve built through the last four years in this program,” Kimmie Woeste said. “(Dozier) said … the relationships just mean so much more than any medal or trophy we’re gonna win.”