Sensational save helps secure championship for Sacred Heart; St. X tops South Warren
Sacred Heart goalkeeper Amanda Isaacs resolved to leave nothing to chance on Saturday.
“There’s been some goals this season where I didn’t think they were going in, so I just kind of let them go, but I figured this is the game to not make any mistakes, so I just went for everything with all my heart,” Isaacs said.
Her heroic effort helped Sacred Heart to its seventh KHSAA Girls’ State Soccer Championship on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Lexington Catholic.
Isaacs, a senior listed at 5-foot-5 on her recruiting profile, used every inch of her reach in a leap to keep the free kick from Lexington Catholic’s Olivia Bretz out of the top left corner of the goal with less than seven minutes in the game as the Valkyries clung to a 1-0 lead. She then collapsed to the ground and corralled the loose ball.
Moments later, Katie Barney’s shot on goal took a wild deflection off a defender and bounced sideways around the LexCath keeper and into the net to set the final margin in the 76th minute.
“It’s soccer,” Lexington Catholic Coach Terry Quigley said. “You never know what’s going to happen. It’s a crazy game. You love it so much because you see the unexpected every game.”
Lexington Catholic had been the aggressor much of the game, but couldn’t come up with an equalizer despite throwing more numbers forward.
Isaacs praised the defense in front of her.
“They killed it,” said Isaacs, who had four saves and faced four corner kicks. “There were some times that I was worried but, I mean, they came in, they saved my butt. They were there and I was backing them up as much as I could.”
Lexington Catholic senior Emma James Bryant, who has been a starter and an anchor on the Knights back line for four seasons acknowledged the loss hurts, but the season has been “amazing.”
“I’m so proud, she said. We completely dominated this year, and I loved it. … To have a season, let alone make it this far, it’s great. I personally think that we dominated the game. It’s just unlucky. The second goal, obviously, we just had two in the back, and we knew it was a big risk and it just bounced weird.”
Having lost to Lexington Catholic earlier in the season by scores of 1-0 and 5-0, Sacred Heart came out determined in the first half and displayed a number of exceptional passing sequences, one of which generated a LexCath foul and a free kick just over 10 minutes into the game.
Gabriela Quintero took it from 38 yards away, watched it bounce through traffic near the 6-yard box and tumble in. She still doesn’t believe she scored it, but after initially crediting it to someone else on the public address system, the KHSAA put her down for the goal.
When asked how big it was for her team, Quintero replied, “Exponential. It set the tone for the whole rest of the game. It’s the momentum we needed in those first minutes.”
Facing Lexington Catholic’s pressure was something the Valkyries were prepared for Quintero said.
“Coming into the second half, we knew we just needed to hold our ground. Getting that second goal just pushed us over the edge,” she said. Quintero was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
Lexington Catholic finished the season 16-3 and earned its second straight 11th Region title and the Knights’ ninth trip to the state finals.
“Their strategy was very well carried out,” Quigley said of Sacred Heart. “Their team should be proud and their coach should be proud. … Nothing we worked gave us that opening goal we could relax on. We had shots, but we were never relaxed on them.”
The Knights should have a number of starters back to try for the program’s second state championship next season, including leading scorers Emily Scanlon, Mary Martin Hampton and Bretz, plus two-thirds of its back line in 11th Region player of the year Katherine Truitt and Laura Banahan.
Boys’ finals
St. Xavier 1, South Warren 0: Sulli Meyer’s header off a corner kick from Agustin Gonzalez early in the second half provided the goal St. Xavier needed to capture its 15th KHSAA Boys’ Soccer State Championship and third in the last four years.
“It was just a corner like we’ve been doing all year,” said Meyer, who was named the tournament’s most valuable player. “I made the run that I always do, found the ball and just attacked it. And it went in.”
Tigers Coach Andy Schulten had a pretty good angle on it from the sideline.
“As soon as I saw Agustin play that ball in, I looked and I noticed that Sulli was unmarked and I saw him rise above,” said Schultin, who is 11-1 in state finals as St. X’s coach. “As soon as he started to jump, I knew it was in. I screamed probably before the ball even hit his head, because he finishes those.”
From there, St. X relied on its defense to see it through against a South Warren team making its first state finals appearance in only its 11th year of existence and third trip ever to the tournament.
Meyer didn’t doubt it.
“We’re very confident in our defense,” Meyer said. “And we know the talent we have. … At halftime, we were saying one goal is going to win this game. We knew we weren’t going to let them score.”
Meyer acknowledged his senior class had a chip on its shoulder coming into 2020 after last season ended with a disappointing loss in the 7th Region championship game, a 5-4 double overtime heartbreaker to Collegiate. Only one starter Saturday was part of St. X’s last state title run in a program that has so many rostered players it couldn’t bring them on the sideline during this COVID-19 restricted season.
“A lot of people were saying this wasn’t our strongest class,” Meyer said. “We knew that and knew we had to work extra hard. We kept grinding and kept grinding. … We kept working and we got it done, and it’s just great to have another championship.”
Girls’ All-Tournament Team
Lena Blanke, Russell; Erin Heltsley and Kennedy White, Greenwood; Olivia Rudder and Ellisia Edwards, North Laurel; Abby Rowe, Olivia Bretz and Emily Scanlon, Lexington Catholic; Reagan Nolan, Allie George and Most Valuable Player Gabriela Quintero, Sacred Heart.
Boys’ All-Tournament Team
Hunter Clark, Daviess County; Noble Eleazu, Ashland Blazer; Gabe Hodge, Boyle County; Owen Ruggles, North Oldham; Lance Paul and Noah Moeller, Ryle; Deacon Brock and Jose Torres, Corbin; Eldin Velic, David Brown and Anthony Cano, South Warren; Agustin Gonzalez, Jeffrey Cox and Most Valuable Player Sulli Meyer, St. Xavier.
Girls’ finals highlights
This story was originally published October 31, 2020 at 8:44 PM.
