Bishop Brossart’s schedule is tough enough to test any team.
After a 4-1 loss in the season opener to defending state runner-up No. 6 Highlands and a 0-0 tie against No. 5 Lexington Catholic, the goals finally came — and there were plenty of them — as No. 9 Brossart shut out No. 17 Conner 6-0 Monday evening at the Bishop Brossart Mustang Athletic Complex in Alexandria.
(The rankings come from the Rundell rankings)
Brossart’s top two returning scorers and Kentucky High School Soccer Coaches Association preseason watch list members, sophomore Rylee Fuller and junior Kylie Smith lit up the scoreboard, combining for five of the six goals.
Fuller scored her first goal of the season, but she didn’t stop there. She completed the hat trick with a goal in the first half and two more in the second.
“First goal, I was just trying to get there and I can’t lie, I was pretty scared,” Fuller said. “Second was a free kick and I was scared for a second, thinking, ‘Oh no, they’re not going to let this one in,’ but it did. The third one I was confident in. I went for it and it went in.”
Smith took care of two more, scoring once in each half. She had scored Brossart’s lone goal through its first two games.
“I’m a striker, it’s what I’m supposed to do,” Smith said. “But I like giving opportunities for my teammates as well. I love helping my team get victories and it just feels good to finally put a few in the back of the net.”
It’s easy to see the scores, but it’s the chemistry between the two that makes them even more successful.
Before the game even started, the two had their special handshake. Then, it was off.
“That chemistry helps get our team together,” Smith said. “It helps us to be leaders together. It’s always good when you have that one other player who’s like-minded to you. We actually train together outside of here and push each other every day to be the best that we can.”
Freshman Olivia McDermott scored the other goal, the first of her career, giving Brossart a 2-0 lead with her goal in the 28th minute.
The offensive outburst was matched by senior goalkeeper Emma Ritter, who recorded her second shutout of the season.
Ritter has stepped into a bigger role after Brossart’s standout goalkeeper from last season, Maddie Broering graduated.
“She’s built a lot, she’s trained a lot,” Bishop Brossart head coach Andy Smith said. “She’s worked hard and she’s starting to show some leadership and getting it done.”
Getting their first win was rewarding, especially after the first two games.
“Adversity’s good,” Smith said. “Those tough games are like that for a reason. They’re starting to come together, to trust each other and it’s working out.”
The early schedule hasn’t been easy on Conner either.
Brossart was already their second top-10 matchup of the season after Conner faced No. 3 Paul Laurence Dunbar in their season opener.
Along with the difficult schedule, the Lady Cougars lost a lot of production from last season. They are working through it after losing Izelee Kerns, who scored seven goals last season and was critical on defense before continuing her career at Western Michigan University, and Reagan Buchert, their leading scorer with 10 goals last season, who now plays at the University of Tennessee-Martin.
“You try to balance where you reload every year and we graduated a lot of key components,” Conner head coach Mike Hughes said. “Most of the areas we’ve replaced, and we have a lot of younger players and older players, trying to mesh that together. Along with a schedule that isn’t friendly, it doesn’t always lend itself to having success early.”
The Lady Cougars fell behind 3-0 after 28 minutes, with Fuller scoring in the 20th minute before Smith and McDermott each found the net eight minutes later.
Fuller added another shortly after halftime and secured the hat trick in the 69th minute, before Smith capped the scoring in the 73rd.
Bishop Brossart, now 1-1-1, will once again play a top-10 team in the state when they host Dunbar Saturday at 11 a.m.
Conner falls to 0-2-1 and will search for their first victory Wednesday in Hebron against Cincinnati Country Day at 6 p.m.
LADY ‘STANGS 6, LADY COUGARS 0
BISHOP BROSSART — 3-3 — 6
CONNER — 0-0 — 0
Game Stats
Goals: Fuller (BB) 20′, 45′, 69′; Smith 28′, 73′; McDermott 28′
Assists: (BB) Callahan, McDermott
Records: Bishop Brossart 1-1-1, Conner 0-2-1
