Sacred Heart has a happy Halloween after getting revenge in soccer semis
Halloween night brought the Sacred Heart girls’ soccer team one step closer to its ultimate treat.
Sacred Heart defeated West Jessamine, 3-0, Wednesday night in the semifinals of the KHSAA Girls’ Soccer State Tournament sponsored by U.S. Army ROTC. The Valkyries, rated No. 1 overall in the Kentucky Maher Rankings, now will get a chance to claim their first state title since 2015 when they take the field at Frederick Douglass on Saturday. They’ll meet either Bethlehem or Highlands, who met in Wednesday’s second semifinal.
BOX SCORE: SACRED HEART 3, WEST JESSAMINE 0
West Jessamine — the two-time defending state champion — eliminated Sacred Heart (24-1-1) each of the last two state tournaments: 1-0 on a late goal in the 2016 quarterfinals and in a shootout following a 1-1 draw in the 2017 semifinals.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Free kick from Estelle Gabriel sails through and now Sacred Heart has a 2-0 lead over two-time defending champ West Jessamine in 35’. <a href="https://t.co/LOzNvNdWTs">pic.twitter.com/LOzNvNdWTs</a></p>— Josh Morgue(@HLpreps) <a href="https://twitter.com/HLpreps/status/1057764485920972801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ashley Durik with what I’m gonna call the dagger (or, in the spirit of Halloween, machete?) in the 62’. <br><br>Caught the end of her sliding score as Sacred Heart takes a 3-0 lead over West Jessamine in the semis of the KHSAA Girls’ Soccer State Tournament sponsored by U.S. Army ROTC. <a href="https://t.co/av11LEiEMW">pic.twitter.com/av11LEiEMW</a></p>— Josh Morgue (@HLpreps) <a href="https://twitter.com/HLpreps/status/1057774199278915589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Colts (16-4-5) had no opportunity for late-game heroics in this meeting. Sacred Heart’s Brielle Heuglin launched a 35-yard shot that got a momentous bounce in the box to give her team a 1-0 edge 24 minutes into the game. Estelle Gabriel swelled the lead to 2-0 on a free kick that throttled to the left in the 35th minute.
Ashley Durik, a Cornell University commit, added an insurance goal on a sliding kick that found an empty net in the 62nd minute. Durik, the Valkyries’ leading goal scorer with 30 on the year, credited Heuglin for her exciting finish.
“Brie played me a really good ball through the defense and I just saw a small window that I could only get to if I was sliding, so I just planted my left foot,” said Durik, who landed on her back after the kick. “As soon as I saw it go in it was really exciting because a 3-0 win is much better than a 2-0 win. It’s a pretty great feeling.”
Durik as a freshman was among the leading goal scorers for Sacred Heart’s state championship team in 2015. She’ll now have the opportunity to bookend her time at the school with state titles. History favors the Valkyries, whose five state titles trail only South Oldham (seven) in state history.
“The last few years were really disappointing because we were just so close,” Durik said. “I think we have a really great team and a lot of potential this year. If we play the best we can, I think we have a really really great shot at the state championship.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2018 at 8:19 PM.