‘Anything can happen.’ And it usually does in Lexington girls’ soccer.
After a convincing 3-1 victory over Paul Laurence Dunbar in the Fayette County Soccer Spectacular this month, Tates Creek’s girls’ team expressed satisfaction with a job done and determination for the work left to do.
“No ‘ones,’ just smiles,” Commodores Coach Ally Tucker told her team as they posed with the event trophy for the second year in a row, making sure they kept the win in perspective. Holding up a “No. 1” index finger in August means little.
The true goal lies ahead, and Tates Creek knows how tough it will be to get to the state tournament after getting knocked out in the 43rd District semifinals by Dunbar last year.
“We’re pretty even teams and you never know what’s going to happen in these games,” said senior Carsyn Prigge, an Ohio University commit and one of the key cogs missing last year after she tore her ACL in preseason. “They’re big rivalry games. Anything can happen.”
And anything did happen among city teams in 2018, a year that saw eight postseason games among city teams decided by one goal or penalty kicks.
In last year’s 43rd District Tournament, three games were decided by PKs, including the finals between Lexington Catholic and Dunbar, which went to the Knights.
Henry Clay, which won its 42nd District Tournament 1-0 after entering as a No. 2 seed for the first time in four years, stunned Lexington Catholic with a late goal in the 11th Region semis. The result: 1-0. The other region semifinal? Another 1-0 win, this time Dunbar over Frederick Douglass.
Dunbar looks to defend the 11th Region under second-year coach Megan Poage, who brings back eight starters and a ton of confidence.
“This season our schedule has been updated to be playing very high-level teams,” Poage said. “The players are very excited to challenge themselves.”
Here’s a look at Lexington girls’ soccer, with teams ordered by their latest statewide ranking on MaherRankings.com, the most commonly referenced high school ratings system over the past several years.
Tates Creek
Coach: Ally Tucker (fourth season)
State rank: No. 3
Last season: 11-7-3. Lost in the 43rd District semifinals to Dunbar on penalty kicks.
2019 so far: 6-0.
Standing out: Senior attacker Shae Robertson (Eastern Kentucky commit) has led the team in scoring all three years and put in a whopping 31 as a sophomore. Last season, senior McKensey Bunch (Southern Illinois) also established herself as a scoring threat with 14 goals. Freshman Maiya Clark might be the fastest forward in the state and has already notched four goals and four assists. With Prigge as a deep-lying playmaker, Creek is a threat to score quickly and often.
Quotable: “It may take us a while to feel as confident defensively as we do offensively. I have a great group of seniors and I’ve loved every minute of coaching them. I just want them to have the best season possible,” Tucker said.
Big games: At Dunbar (Sept. 4), Lexington Catholic (Sept. 23).
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Coach: Megan Poage (second season)
Rank: No. 10
Last season: 17-4-1. 11th Region champs. Lost 1-0 to West Jessamine in first round of state tournament.
2019 so far: 3-1-1.
Standing out: Junior Ashlyn Fuller leads a batch of seven different goal scorers with five. Sophomore Taylor Smith has moved off the back line and into the midfield creating two goals and two assists. Senior Erin Heil and junior Carmen Combs play key roles. Sophomores Isabella White and Lily Jurjans and freshman Olivia Bretz have made their presence felt.
Quotable: “We definitely need to get some more games in and see how we’re actually going to build and play,” Fuller said just before the regular season began. “We have a tougher schedule this year, so we’re going to have to step it up.”
Big games: Simon Kenton (Sept. 23), Lexington Catholic (Sept. 25).
Lexington Catholic
Coach: Terry Quigley (28th season)
Rank: No. 9
Last season: 15-6-2. 43rd District champs. Lost 1-0 in the 11th Region semifinals to Henry Clay.
2019 so far: 4-1.
Standing out: Senior midfielder Maggie Corbett scored 14 goals last year and has already garnered a hat trick in 2019. Senior defender McKenna Hamm was a 2018 all-city selection. Sophomore midfielder Emily Scanlon is another to watch.
Quotable: “We’re definitely a younger team, … but it’s been really fun to see how we’re jelling. Everyone’s playing really well,” Hamm said.
Big games: Simon Kenton (Sept. 9), at West Jessamine (Sept. 18).
Lafayette
Coach: Taylor Roden (fourth season)
Rank: No. 20
Last season: 10-7-2. Lost on PKs in the 43rd District first round to Lexington Christian.
2019 so far: 5-1.
Standing out: Lafayette won one game the year before Roden took over. Those days are gone. Breakout forward Kristin Gamble, an all-city performer in 2018, has nine goals and an assist. Ella Abraham, who was second on the team with five goals last year, already has nine to match Gamble with three assists. Both are juniors, along with all-city returnee Sarah Hall. Senior center back Susannah Starkey runs the defense.
Quotable: “I feel like we are ready not just to come out and play, but to come out and win,” Gamble said. “I feel really good about this season.”
Big games: Dunbar (Sept. 11), at Lexington Catholic (Sept. 7).
Lexington Christian
Coach: Michael Fulton (first season)
Rank: No. 24
Last season: 9-11-1
2019 so far: 3-0.
Standing out: All-city selections Riley Fairchild, Mackenzie Buckler and Caroline Hensley return. Fairchild led the team in assists in 2018 and has three goals this season. Hensley has seven, already nearing her total of 10 last year. Senior Sydney Spillman has the current assist lead with three.
Quotable: “So far it’s going pretty good,” Fairchild said. “It’s going way better than we thought it would considering we just got a new coach, but it’s definitely made a positive impact. He’s great; we like him a lot.”
Big games: Dunbar (Aug. 28), at Lafayette (Sept. 18).
Henry Clay
Coach: Mebit Aragaw (14th season)
Rank: No. 25
Last season: 11-6-3. 42nd District champs. Lost 2-0 in 11th Region finals to Dunbar.
2019 so far: 2-2.
Standing out: The Blue Devils return all-city selections Elisabeth Hundley, Corinne Leach and Ella Pugh, all juniors. Leach led the team with seven goals and four assists. Also back are seniors Lauren Scheller (five goals), McClaine Huffman (five) and Mason Ransdell (four). Coach Aragaw is five games away from 200 wins in his career when combining with his boys’ record at Madison Central.
Quotable: “I definitely feel like we’re going to be strong all around this year,” Hundley said.
Big games: Lexington Catholic (Aug. 28), Frederick Douglass (Sept. 4).
Frederick Douglass
Coach: Megan Adkins (third season)
Rank: No. 37
Last season: 15-8-1. Lost 1-0 in 11th Region semis to Dunbar.
2019 so far: 5-2.
Standing out: From a one-win season to a No. 1 district seed in just two years, Adkins has the Broncos playing for trophies. They have all 11 starters back, including sensational junior keeper Maliya Crump. Lindsey Hager and Haley Buckman lead the team with four goals each. Buckman also has three assists. Junior Emily Coke, another of Douglass’s six players who were all-city last year, has three goals and two assists.
Quotable: “I’m feeling very confident about this year,” Crump said. “We went very far last year … I credit that all to my defense … they were really tough.”
Big games: At Henry Clay (Sept. 4), at Scott County (Sept. 18).
Sayre
Coach: Michael McKinney
Rank: No. 77
Last season: 10-11-0. Lost 1-0 in the 42nd District semis to Frederick Douglass
2019 so far: 7-0.
Standing out: Sayre has nine starters back and has started the season red hot. Junior Allison Whitaker leads the team with 12 goals and seven assists. Alexis Henry, among Sayre’s five all-city nominees last year, has 10 goals and six assists. Sophomore keeper Catherine Graves has recorded four shutouts. Freshman Leah Keelen and senior Maggie Little have seven goals each.
Quotable: “I’m just really excited to see how far we’ve come,” Little said. “We have a lot of juniors this year and they’ve really grown as athletes and as people.”
Big games: At Frederick Douglass (Sept. 9), Henry Clay (Sept. 19).
Bryan Station
Coach: Isaac Hayes (first season)
Rank: No. 154
Last season: 2-15. Lost 4-1 in 42nd District first round to Sayre.
2019 so far: 0-5.
Standing out: The Defenders have another new head coach, their third in three years. Sophomore Hanna Hunstad scored 17 of Bryan Station’s 20 goals last season. Seniors Madison Allen, Rachyl May and Hannah Spencer-Pope have endured a tumultuous career and deserve to see the program righted.
Quotable: “This year we just talk and try to hold the team together. We’ve held the team together this far,” Allen said. “It feels good to be a senior and to know we have all these girls that hopefully look up to us.”
Big games: At Scott County (Aug. 28), at Cooper (Sept. 28).
This story was originally published August 27, 2019 at 8:42 AM.
