A year ago, the Highlands Bluebirds and Bishop Brossart Mustangs girls soccer teams watched as rivals celebrated region championships.
On Saturday, the roles were reversed with Highlands (15-6-3) and Bishop Brossart (13-8-4) winning the 9th and 10th Region girls soccer titles. It marked the fourth region title in five years for the Bluebirds and the second in three years for the Mustangs.
9th Region Championship at Dixie Heights
Highlands 3, Notre Dame 2 (Shoot-Out)
Highlands won the best-of-five kicks from the mark, 4-3 to bring home the title knocking off the defending state champions.
“They’re a fantastic team,” said Chris Norris, Highlands head coach. “In the second half, we really wanted to calm down and get the ball to feet. Our bread and butter is our runs off the ball. We started playing our game in the second half. I think we’re one of the top teams in the state for sure.”
Notre Dame (17-4-2) had not lost to a region opponent this season coming into the game. Several teams came within a goal including Highlands in a 4-3 Panda win on Sept. 24 in Park Hills.
“You prepare your team for (kicks from the mark) as best as you can. Sometimes they don’t go your way,” said Suli Kayed, Notre Dame head coach. “Highlands has a nice team.”
It came down to one save for Highlands freshman goalkeeper Natalie Hinegardner. She dove to her left to save one off the foot of Notre Dame sophomore Riley Robertson in the second round. That allowed junior midfielder Claire Cavacini to come up and tie the shoot-out 1-1 after junior Carlyn Tranter made her kick for Notre Dame to open the shoot-out.
“I was definitely nervous just because I’m a new keeper,” Hinegardner said. “That save definitely made sure we were going to win because I have confidence in my team. I knew they were going to make (the shots). I kind of knew (Robertson) was going based on the way she lined up with the ball and I just went for it.”
After a Notre Dame miss in the fifth round, Highlands senior forward and the tournament’s most valuable player Anna Melson stepped forward and buried it past Notre Dame junior goalkeeper Hannah Renaker setting off a celebration. Sophomore defender Kendall Graves and junior forward Kate Jamie made their kicks for Highlands with senior forward Ellie Greenwell and sophomore Cam Kirtley hitting their kicks for Notre Dame.
“I just know I’ve been doing penalty kicks a lot this season. I usually take them in games,” Melson said. “I had to stick to my spot and make sure I buried it. It was surreal. I was shocked and happy. I’m just so happy I did not go out in region tournament my senior year.”
The Pandas outshot the Bluebirds, 18-7 including a 9-4 advantage on goal. The Bluebirds made the most of their opportunities creating better opportunities in the second half. Hinegardner had three saves for Highlands and Renaker had two.
Notre Dame scored just three minutes, 49 seconds into the game. Freshman Sadie Yapp broke free for her fourth goal of the season.
The Pandas had chances to add to the lead. Greenwell had two free kicks, but could not finish them leaving Notre Dame up 1-0 at halftime.
Highlands came out determined in the second half winning more balls in the air. Cavacini scored her 14th goal of the season on an junior defender Ava Meyer assist to tie the game 1-1.
Meyer then scored her second goal of the year with 11:40 left in the game to put Highlands up 2-1. It came off a free kick from freshman Franny Smith.
“I feel like it was a really emotional game and I feel like we kind of got our confidence back coming into the second half after we scored and tied it up,” Jamie said. “Once we got our second goal to go ahead, that really gave us confidence to win those 50/50 balls.”
But the Pandas tied the game with 3:44 remaining after a passing error on a goal kick. Greenwell drew a foul and made the penalty kick for her 15th goal of the season.
The two five-minutes overtimes flew by fast per usual. Highlands could not convert on corner kicks in both halves.
The game had its usual physical play with the teams receiving one yellow card each. Notre Dame had 19 fouls to 11 for Highlands. The Bluebirds also had six corner kicks to three for the Pandas.
Next up for Highlands is a trip down south to face a familiar opponent, the 11th Region champion Lexington Catholic Knights, who have won 24 straight since opening the season with a 3-0 loss at Louisville Sacred Heart. The Knights did not beat any 9th Region opponents.
“If we play our style of soccer, we’re going to be successful,” said Andrew Diemling, Highlands assistant coach. “We’re not worried about one person. We defend well as a team. We attack well as a team. We can play with anybody on a good day.”
10th Region Championship at Harrison County
Bishop Brossart 1, Campbell County 0
The Mustangs had lost five in a row to the crosstown rival Camels (13-4-7) including all three meetings last season. But they made sure it did not happen this year winning the most important meeting of the year.
“It’s so gratifying for the girls. This was our number one goal,” said Andy Smith, Brossart head coach. “It’s tough for them in these kind of games. They’re playing with their friends and girls they’ve played with on club and select teams for years. There’s a lot of emotion that goes with it. Campbell County played well. It was a great game. I’m super proud of my girls.”
The game’s lone goal came with 24:20 left in the first half on a corner kick. Junior midfielder Abby Lloyd booted it from the left side and junior defender/midfielder Avery Schaefer finished it for her third goal this season.
“The goal with corners is getting something on it even if it’s your entire body running into it to get it in,” Schaefer said. “Its not the perfect finish. That’s what I did. It was inside of my thigh. It wasn’t a pretty shot. But it went in. That’s what counts.”
That gave the Mustangs the edge knowing all they had to do was keep the Camels out of the back of their net for the rest of the game. But they still attacked offensively as opposed to sitting back on defense.
Bishop Brossart had a chance to go up 2-0 with 10:55 left in the first half. But Campbell County senior goalkeeper Morgan Rawe made two huge saves.
Campbell County outshot Brossart, 15-14. But the Mustangs had eight on goal compared to five for the Camels. Rawe made seven saves compared to five for Gooderson.
“It was really important to communicate and know that your defense has your back,” said Hannah Kramer, Brossart senior defender/midfielder. “We had really good coverage. Our momentum was really good so that also pushed us to keep the pressure up.”
Brossart had 12 fouls to eight for Campbell County. But the Mustangs had three corner kicks to two for the Camels and both teams had one offsides call.
“We were proud of the team,” said Dave Morris, Campbell County Head Coach. “We were really pressing hard the last 15-20 minutes. They kept fighting until that last shot that could have gone in to tie it. Unfortunately, it didn’t. That’s the way it works sometimes.”
Brossart wanted to limit the touches from Campbell County’s two leading goal-scorers in senior forward Ruby Dunlevy and sophomore forward Jozie Holmes, who had 19 and 14 goals respectively. Dunlevy had a free kick go over the crossbar with 18:30 left in the game and Gooderson made a leaping save landing on the ground with 15:37 left in the game.
“I think it’s just focus realizing it might hurt when you’re down,” Gooderson said. “But eventually the pain will subside. You have to get up for your team and just keep going.”
The Camels had two chances to tie the game in the final three minutes. Senior midfielder Madison Gamble had booted a shot high off a corner kick with 2:22 left. Then with 25.2 seconds left, Dunlevy made a nice pass to Holmes who only had Gooderson to beat to tie the game. But her shot went wide right allowing Brossart to leave Cynthiana with the win.
Brossart plays at the 16th Region champion East Carter Raiders (16-3-2) on Monday because East Carter had a higher Ratings Percentage Index at .57124 compared to .56992 for Brossart. East Carter played one 10th Region opponent in Montgomery County winning 3-1 in Mount Sterling on Aug. 22.
Boys Soccer
10th Region Title Game at Montgomery County
Montgomery County 5, Bishop Brossart 0
The season for the Mustangs (13-6-2) ended in Mount Sterling against the host Indians (15-9). Brossart made it to the region championship for the first time since 2017.
Brossart graduates just four seniors and next year can build around their leading goal-scorers in juniors Tyler Smith and Landon Guidugli, who finished with 17 and 10 goals respectively.
Volleyball Score
McCracken County 2 (26-24, 26-24), Ryle 0
