Winners of the last 13 Ninth Region girls soccer championships will meet again.
After watching their longtime rival Notre Dame advance past Conner in the first semifinal, Highlands wasted little time securing its own return to the regional final, rolling past Dixie Heights 4-0 in Thursday’s second semifinal at St. Henry.
The Bluebirds dominated after the opening minutes, controlling possession for much of the match and pulling away with three second-half goals to seal the win.
Dixie Heights opened with early pressure, forcing Highlands goalkeeper Bailee Class to make a key save on a breakaway to keep the match scoreless. Highlands soon found its footing, and left back Katie Bucher opened the scoring in the ninth minute with a shot from just outside the box — a rare goal-scoring opportunity she made count.
“Our coaches have been harping on us it’s not going to be the perfect shot to just take it,” Bucher said. “I saw that had space outside the 18, and we’ve been practicing all week long on shooting outside the 18.”
You could sense the excitement from Bucher in meeting Notre Dame for a state tournament berth.
“This rivalry has gone back so many years,” Bucher said. “We see them at least every year, every other year in region. So I’m really excited, and just can’t wait for Saturday.”
Dixie held firm for the remainder of the first half, keeping the deficit at one, but Highlands’ attack broke through after halftime. Ally Lickert doubled the lead in the 50th minute off a pass from Ariana Harms, and Reese Wilkens made it 3-0 in the 62nd minute by heading home a perfect cross from Hope Darnell. Harms capped the scoring with just over three minutes remaining, adding a fourth goal to punctuate the performance.
“Being up 1-0 at halftime is something that we haven’t seen a lot of this year, so having that positivity during our halftime made a big difference,” Bluebirds coach Kelsey Etherton said. “It gave us a little bit of a push. Created opportunities in different types of ways and just taking the shot. I felt the girls went out there and almost in a selfish, positive way, you could tell every girl on the field wanted to score.”
Highlands was efficient throughout, putting seven of its 11 shots on target. The Bluebirds’ defense, meanwhile, limited Dixie’s chances after the opening surge. It was their fourth straight shutout and ninth this season.
“We trust Bailee to make that save and getting that one early on changed the momentum in a positive way for us,” Etherton said. “Gave us a deep breath, stayed composed, created our chances and finished them.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
The loss ends Dixie Heights’ season at 8-10-5. The Colonels reached the regional semifinals for the fifth straight year but again came up short, including four eliminations at the hands of Highlands. Seniors Tessa Schmidt (12 goals), Hadley Greene (11 goals), and Hailey Hall (10 assists) headline a departing group of 12 seniors on the roster. Junior Reese Ragan recorded three saves in goal.
Highlands advances to face Notre Dame in Saturday’s championship match at 2 p.m. at St. Henry — another chapter in one of Northern Kentucky’s most familiar postseason rivalries.
