Girls’ soccer 2021: Lexington’s top teams, best players and biggest games this season
With a few games under their belts, Lexington’s high school girls’ soccer teams have gotten a glimpse of what they are and what they could be, but, thankfully, they have until October to figure everything out.
Lexington Catholic, last year’s 11th Region champion and state runner-up, opened its season with Sacred Heart, the team that beat it in the state finals last year. A Valkyries top-shelf screamer from 23 yards out with four minutes to go meant a 1-0 loss for the Knights, but Coach Terry Quigley never frets over the early season.
The Knights return seven starters, including the 2020 11th Region player of the year, Katherine Truitt, a junior center back.
“She’s a modest, very talented young lady,” Quigley said of Truitt, a two-sport athlete in soccer and basketball. “Still, I have trouble talking about her because I’m not sure she knows how good she is, and I’m afraid to tell her.”
Quigley recently had his win-loss record officially submitted to the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, placing him first all-time in girls’ coaching wins with a record of 451-198-34 over 29 years at Lexington Catholic.
More wins are assured as the Knights return leading scorers Mary-Martin Hampton (15 goals, nine assists) and Emily Scanlon (13 goals, eight assists). They also have deep-lying playmaker Olivia Bretz, a junior who led the team in assists with 11 from the defensive central midfielder spot.
“We’ll always feel confident in our team, but every other team is getting better and better,” Scanlon said. “We just have to step up our game every single time.”
Lexington Catholic has won five of the last six region titles, taking last year’s with a 3-1 win over the best Lafayette team in a generation.
The Generals will be looking to contend again. Like LexCath, Lafayette also returns seven starters, including one of the most highly regarded sophomore midfielders in the nation.
Brooke Dawahare, one of a very few Kentucky players to earn a star rating (3) from TopDrawerSoccer.com, has been a regular in her age group’s U.S. national team pools and ranks as an IMG Academy 150 player at No. 51 in her class. She tied the Lafayette lead for assists last season with seven and had six goals. She has three goals and three assists in four games this year.
“Building around Brooke, we just want to create opportunities for her to be her best self,” Coach Taylor Roden said. “Which is when she’s distributing, getting on the ball a lot, and we’re trying to figure out ways to keep her in the game as long as possible without tiring her out.”
Dawahare is a part of Lafayette’s massive and talented sophomore class of 10 players, which also includes Lily Simpson, who notched eight goals and six assists last season, and Campbell Tippey, a speedster who ran first in last season’s 1,600 meters region track event and already has three goals and two assists in 2021.
While it might seem Lexington Catholic and Lafayette have an edge on the 11th Region field because of the experience they have back, anything can happen over the course of a season and teams like Paul Laurence Dunbar, Henry Clay, Frederick Douglass, Sayre and others have high expectations, as well.
Here’s a look at Lexington girls’ soccer, with teams ordered according to their approximate finish last season. Player honors and stats are from the 2020 season.
Lexington Catholic
Coach: Terry Quigley (30th season).
Last season: 16-3. 43rd District and 11th Region champion. Lost to Sacred Heart 2-0 in the state finals.
Early 2021 results: 0-1. Lost 1-0 to Sacred Heart on Aug. 9.
Standing out: Katherine Truitt, jr. all-city first team, 11th Region player of the year; Emily Scanlon, sr., all-city first team; Olivia Bretz, jr., all-city second team; Mary Martin Hampton, jr., all-city second team; Kylie May Stephenson, jr. (4 goals/3 assists).
Senior says: “We just have to work hard and try to get back to where we were last year. And then win.” — midfielder Lauren Schoff.
Notes: Only Sacred Heart has been to more state finals (11) than Lexington Catholic (nine). The Knights are 1-8 in state championship games, winning their title in 2002.
Lafayette
Coach: Taylor Roden (sixth season).
Last season: 10-4-1. 43rd District and 11th Region runner-up. Lost to Lexington Catholic 3-1 in region finals.
Early 2021 results: 3-1. Defeated Woodford County 5-1, Clark County 4-1 and Campbell County 2-0 in last week’s Fayette County Soccer Spectacular. Lost to Bethlehem 4-0 in the event finals.
Standing out: Brooke Dawahare, so. all-city first team; Lily Simpson, so. all-city honorable mention (HM); Jaimye Cottongim, sr. all-city HM (4 goals); Campbell Tippey, so. (3 goals/1 assist).
Coach Roden says: “Our goal is to build on the success of last year and continue to advance into the postseason.”
Notes: Lafayette was 1-19 the season before Roden took over the program. The Generals won the sport’s first KHSAA sanctioned state title in 1992.
Henry Clay
Coach: Mebit Aragaw (16th season).
Last season: 8-3. 42nd District champion. Lost 1-0 to Lafayette in the region semis.
Early 2021 results: 1-2. Defeated Montgomery County 3-0 and lost to Bethlehem 4-1 and Dixie Heights 5-2 in the Fayette County Soccer Spectacular.
Standing out: Haley Flynn, so., all-city second team (9 goals/2 assists); Addison Kenny, jr., all-city HM (5 goals/1 assist). Grace Plummer, so. (4 goals); Elly Dyer, sr. (4 goals/1 assists).
Coach Aragaw says: “This is a well-balanced team. We expect everyone to contribute both on offensive and defensive ends. A great group of seniors will be leading us, and I expect great things on and off the field.”
Notes: Blue Devils have won the 42nd District title seven years straight. Last region crown came in 2011 when it was in the 13th.
Sayre
Coach: Michael McKinney (eighth season).
Last season: 10-5-0. 42nd District runner-up. Lost 3-0 to Lexington Catholic in region playoffs.
Early 2021 results: 2-0. Beat Collins 6-3 and Paris 10-0.
Standing out: Cat Graves, sr. (GK) all-city HM, (50 saves/3 shutouts); Gigi Cornett, jr. all-city HM (1 goal/2 assists); Leah Keelan, jr. (4 goals); Juliette Longbottom, so. (2 assists); Katherine Monohan, fr.
Coach McKinney says: “We are young, having graduated nine starters, but we’re hard working, scrappy and one of Sayre’s most talented teams to date.”
Notes: Sayre was the small-school 11th Region All “A” winner last year and reached a full-field region tournament for the first time since 2007.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Coach: Megan Poage (fourth season).
Last season: 8-4. Lost to Lafayette 3-1 in the 43rd District semis.
Early 2021 results: 1-2. Defeated Dixie Heights 4-3 in penalty shootout; lost to South Oldham 3-0 and Bethlehem 3-0 in Fayette County Soccer Spectacular.
Standing out: Isabella White, sr. (4 goals/2 assists); Eva Blackman, so. (2 goals); Lizzie Spedding, sr. (1 goal); Amber Brandon (GK) so. (55 saves/3 shutouts). Una O’Leary, fr.
Senior says: “I think we work well together. We have a lot of chemistry and we have individual skills that work together as a team. I think the work that we put in is really making progress.“ — Lizzie Spedding.
Notes: The Bulldogs won the region title in Poage’s first season in 2018.
Frederick Douglass
Coach: Megan Adkins (fifth season).
Last season: 8-3-2. Lost 1-0 to Sayre in the 42nd District semifinals.
Early 2021 results: 1-2. Beat Tates Creek 3-0; Lost 3-0 to Campbell County and 2-0 to Clark County in the Fayette County Soccer Spectacular.
Standing out: Haley Buckman, sr., all-city second team (3 goals/3 assists); Hannah Muncie, sr. all-city HM (5 goals/1 assist); Kylee Morgan, sr. (3 goals/3 assists); Olivia Johnson, jr. (2 goals/1 assist); Terin Chrisco, (GK) sr.
Coach Adkins says: “We will have to sort out some things in the beginning and find the right combinations. Our goal is to win district first and foremost and that’s what we will be working toward each game.”
Notes: Buckman is a four-year starter for the Broncos and is among five returning starters this season.
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Lexington Christian
Coach: Michael Fulton (third season).
Last season: 4-7-1. Lost to Lexington Catholic 7-0 in 43rd District semis.
Early 2021 results: 1-0. Beat Scott County 4-3.
Standing out: Caroline Hensley, sr., all-city second team (11 goals/1 assist); Hayden Hart, so. (5 goals/1 assist) and Marin Wills, jr. (3 goals/6 assists).
Coach Fulton says: “I believe our team will be one of the strongest teams we have had in several years. We want to become more competitive in districts and seek an All ‘A’ state championship. This team will have the best chance this program has had in a while to make this happen.”
Notes: LCA had no seniors last season and a roster of only 18 players. This year’s roster has seven seniors among 29 rostered players. Hensley is among the top goal scorers in program history, according to Fulton.
Tates Creek
Coach: Haydon Warren (second season).
Last season: 1-9. Lost 6-0 to LCA in 43rd District playoffs.
Early 2021 results: 0-2-1. Lost 4-0 to Frederick Douglass and 3-0 to Campbell County and tied Woodford County 3-3 in the Fayette County Soccer Spectacular.
Standing out: Jameela Shalash, sr, all-city second team (3 goals); Hadley Jones, (GK) so. all-city HM; Dani Hacker, jr. all-city HM (2 goals); Kaitlyn Miller, sr. all-city HM; Emily Vannoy, sr. all-city HM. Maya Nicholas, so.
Coach Warren says: “We have four strong senior leaders that are committed to the program and investing in the younger players coming up. The future is bright at TC.”
Notes: Tates Creek returns eight starters to give them some continuity after losing 13 seniors the year before. After not having a junior varsity team due to low numbers last year, Creek has alumna Cam Davis leading this year’s JV.
Bryan Station
Coach: Isaac Hayes (third season).
Last season: 0-11. Lost 7-3 to Scott County in the 42nd District playoffs.
Early 2021 results: 1-2. Beat Franklin County 4-0; Lost 7-1 to Scott County and 10-0 to Clark County.
Standing out: Hanna Hunstad, sr. all-city HM (2 goals); Abigail Mingo, so. all-city HM; Kiersha Wilson, jr. all-city HM (1 assist); Cate VanMeter, so. all-city HM (1 goal).
Coach Hayes says: “We have finally retained enough players to fully field separate JV and varsity teams and because of this we have the strongest mix of talent yet. Really looking forward to seeing how we can go this season.”
Notes: Bryan Station broke a 35-game losing streak that stretched over two full seasons of winless soccer when it defeated Franklin County 4-0 on Aug. 11. The school could barely field a varsity team after redistricting created Frederick Douglass in 2017 and decimated its girls’ soccer ranks, but with Hayes starting his third season, things finally appear on the mend.
The biggest games
Here’s a look at what should be some of the best games for Lexington teams this season. Complete soccer schedules and scores can be found at KHSAA.org.
Aug. 18: Frederick Douglass at Lafayette.
Aug. 23: Henry Clay at Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Aug. 28: Highlands at Lafayette.
Aug. 30: Henry Clay at Clark County.
Aug. 31: Sayre at Bryan Station.
Sept. 1: West Jessamine at Lexington Catholic; Paul Laurence Dunbar at Lafayette.
Sept. 8: Frederick Douglass at Henry Clay; Lexington Catholic at Paul Laurence Dunbar
Sept. 13-18: The Lady Knights Challenge Cup featuring Lexington Catholic, Highlands, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Manual, Sacred Heart, Notre Dame, Simon Kenton and Assumption (At least one of these teams will be in state finals — mark it down).
Sept. 15: Sayre at Frederick Douglass.
Sept. 22: Lafayette at Lexington Catholic; Henry Clay at Sayre; Tates Creek at Lexington Christian.
Sept. 29: West Jessamine at Lafayette; Clark County at Paul Laurence Dunbar.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 3:25 PM.
