Ask the players at Ryle what’s different this year, and the answer keeps coming back to the same thing: belief.
The Lady Raiders have stopped wondering whether they’re good enough to compete and started believing they belong…in every game, against every opponent and among the region’s best.
That belief didn’t come overnight.
Ryle’s girls soccer program has had its share of struggles over the last five years. There have been injuries to key players. There hasn’t been a winning season since 2021. The Raiders haven’t made the Ninth Region Tournament since 2022.
When John Pohlman took over as head coach in 2024, he knew there was work to do.
Talent matters. Having the right players matters.
But there was something else Ryle needed.
They needed to believe.
“This is my third year here and it’s been a process,” Pohlman said. “We’ve been trying to build this, and now I think they feel like they can compete with just about anybody in the state. They’re starting to believe.”
Four games into the season, nearly five, with Ryle’s 33rd District seeding game against Conner postponed by lightning with 16:50 remaining and the Raiders leading 1-0, it’s hard to argue with that belief.
The schedule has already given them plenty of reasons to question it.
Instead, Ryle has given itself plenty of reasons to keep believing.
The Lady Raiders opened the season with a 2-0 win over Landmark Christian of Cincinnati before getting thrown directly into the deep end against Sacred Heart, the two-time defending state champion and No. 2 team in both the Rundell Rankings and Kentucky High School Girls Soccer Coaches Association rankings.
“We got down two to nothing and we fought back to make it 2-2,” Pohlman said. “We had a chance to win it with about seven minutes to go and we had a direct kick hit the crossbar, and they came down and scored late to win 3-2.”
Then came Notre Dame.
Ryle lost 1-0 to the region powerhouse, but there was no time to dwell on it. The Raiders turned around and faced Highlands, the two-time defending Ninth Region champion and a state runner-up last season.
This time, Ryle got the result.
The Raiders beat Highlands 1-0, earning a win that meant more than another mark in the win column.
It was proof.
Proof that Ryle could play with the teams it had spent years chasing.
“We played defensively more for Sacred Heart, but then we started pressing, we started actually trying to play,” senior Ella Hoenderkamp said. “We need to know that we are good enough to play. The mindset is to be confident and believe in yourself and your teammates.”
And the Raiders have done it without their full roster.
Ryle is still without two seniors, including Claire Jansen, last season’s leading scorer, and Maddee Parke.
Some of the players carrying bigger roles now know what it’s like to watch from the sidelines, too.
Hoenderkamp knows it better than most.
The Thomas More commit earned second-team All-Ninth Region honors as a sophomore after leading Ryle with 12 goals. Then came an injury that kept her off the field for her entire junior season.
Now, with her high school career nearing its final chapter, she’s back.
And she’s trying to make the most of every minute.
“I played my eighth grade year, freshman and sophomore year,” Hoenderkamp said. “It was hard not playing last year. Coming back, it’s like I just need to make up for last year and try to do everything that I can to lead the team and be there for everybody.”
Hoenderkamp already has a goal and an assist this season, but she’s not the only player who has had to find her way back.
Junior goalkeeper Avery Smith missed all of last season with an injury, too.
She returned at the beginning of this season and has quickly found herself in one of the most important roles on the field, trying to keep the ball out of the net against some of the best teams in the state.
Through four complete games, Smith has allowed four goals, made 39 saves and recorded two shutouts.
There are nerves that come with that.
Smith doesn’t hide it.
“A little bit,” she said when asked about facing teams like Sacred Heart, Highlands and Notre Dame. “I just want to be good for my team, though, do the best I can and be aggressive. I try to be as confident as I can and tell myself I can do it.”
That confidence is spreading throughout the roster.
Ryle has already gotten goals from four different players, led by freshman Kourtney Rahschulte with two, while four players have recorded assists.
It’s a team finding ways to contribute and a team that still has plenty of room to grow.
That’s important because the Raiders aren’t hiding from what they want.
It has been since 2011 that a team other than Highlands or Notre Dame has won the Ninth Region Tournament.
“Our goals are to win district, to win region and to compete for a state championship,” Pohlman said. “We’ve built the belief that it’s anybody’s district, it’s anybody’s region. We’re going to learn from these games, we’re going to get healthier and we’re going to make a run for it this year. Our goal is to be in the conversation for region and hopefully at state.”
There’s a long way to go before Ryle knows how far this season can take it.
But for a program that has spent years trying to find its footing, the Lady Raiders finally seem to have found something just as important as talent.
They believe they belong.
