As the rain started to fall down, the tension continued to rise in front of a large crowd at Buenger Sports Complex in Park Hills.
With the game knotted at 1-1 between Notre Dame and Highlands in the 9th Region girls soccer semifinals, overtime was lurking as they headed into the final minute.
A counter attack presented itself when Pandas Kimberly Woeste found Hannah Knapke on a run surrounded by three Bluebirds defenders. Knapke created some space in the box and delivered the game-winning goal with 38 seconds to play and sending Notre Dame to the 9th Region championship with a 2-1 victory.
“I can’t even explain it. Something took over me. I almost blacked out. Just got it done,” Knapke said. “Crazy, absolutely insane. I’ll never score a bigger goal in my life.”
Northern Kentucky’s finest didn’t disappoint in a game that had a region final feel.
“There’s no doubt that this was going to be the regional final for Northern Kentucky,” Bluebirds coach Chris Norris said. “We always want to give the crowd their money’s worth and I think Notre Dame made some good money tonight based off that game.”
The frantic pace kept for all 80 minutes, both teams finding ways to attack with two defenses thwarting nearly every opportunity. Highlands found the first crack in the crevice in the 43rd minute when Reese Wilkens collected a cross from Claire Cavacini and finished inside the far post.
The Bluebirds hadn’t lost in the region all season, carrying a 17-game unbeaten streak into Wednesday’s game against region opponents.
But Notre Dame didn’t flinch, equaling the score just five minutes later when Kate Lenihan jumped in front of a Bluebirds clearance attempt in the box to an empty net and making things 1-1 with 32 minutes to play.
“Every time we’ve got down this season, something just flips in us that we just don’t give up ever. Something about this team that is so special. As soon as we go down, something switches and we just go at it. Harder, faster, stronger and we always come back,” Knapke said.
Things really tightened up from there. Passes had to be crisp, balls needed to be cleared and every player had to be accounted for. Any mistake moving forward was going to prove costly.
It wasn’t necessarily a mistake from the Bluebirds, but it was more of a heads up play from Woeste to find Knapke in that final minute, who had just re-entered the game due to an injury.
“Kimmy found that ball at the end and got it into Knapke. She (Woeste) was out about 10 seconds before that with a bloody nose. She comes in, slots it in perfectly and Knapke does what Knapke does,” Pandas coach Brian Woeste said. “I couldn’t be happier for her. She’s a senior. Nobody works harder. She’s a a captain on this team. I’ve coached that kid since she was eight years old and I’ve seen her do this time and time again. She’s a gamer. I’m just so happy she got this moment. She deserves it and it means so much for her to be able to do that for her team.”
Wednesday was just another added to the list of epic battles between Notre Dame and Highlands, meeting in the region tournament for the ninth time in the last 11 seasons. Notre Dame has now won six of those matchups.
“This was a state championship atmosphere between two state championship caliber teams. I told the girls they’ll never forget this,” Woeste said. “Northern Kentucky shows up to watch these two teams play and these two teams deserve it. You won’t see a better game in Northern Kentucky, boys or girls than what you just saw right here.”
Notre Dame finished with 13 shots, nine of them on goal as Bluebirds keeper Natalie Hinegardner had seven saves. Highlands put up nine shots, five of them on target as Joelle Hentz had four saves for the Pandas.
The Pandas will play on Saturday for a chance at a 18th region championship in program history. They’ll take on a Cooper team playing in their first ever regional title game.
“I told the girls before the last game, we have seven. Now we have six left to win the state championship. Cooper is next in our path. They got a nice team, some really talented players,” Woeste said. “We’re going to have to recover, rest and get ourselves in the right frame of mind and come down from this high and play well Saturday. That’s a dangerous team. They’re hot right now.”
Saturday’s match is scheduled for 7 p.m., at Notre Dame.
Highlands season comes to a close at 17-3-3, denied a repeat bid at a region title. They’ll graduate a 13-member senior class that went 61-17-9 in their four years in Fort Thomas with two region titles.
“This was my third year with this group. They came in as sophomores and we converted them into a very young team three years ago. I’ve seen a lot of growth and then with attrition losing a couple of division one players and our youth started stepping back up,” Norris said. “I feel like we’ve developed an excellent pipeline for the future. Between our varsity, JV and freshman teams, we’re playing the style of soccer that this coaching staff feels comfortable with and fits our personnel. I think the future is certainly bright for Highlands Bluebirds soccer.”
