Girls’ soccer: West Jessamine has new coach, but familiar foe for state semifinals
When Ben Hall-Volpenhein first joined the West Jessamine girls’ soccer staff as an assistant coach back in 2011, the Colts’ program was just beginning its run of postseason success.
Coincidentally, this season marks the 10-year anniversary of West Jessamine making its first state semifinals appearance. Its opponent then — Notre Dame — is the same program it faces in Thursday’s semifinals of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association girls’ state soccer tournament at Frederick Douglass High School.
Notre Dame is also the program West Jessamine won its second state title against in 2017.
And while Hall-Volpenhein later left the Colts’ staff, former coach Kevin Wright’s retirement last year brought Hall-Volpenhein back to high school soccer because he felt a symmetry about coaching again, especially for his mentor’s team. And having the Colts and Pandas meet once more in this year’s semis only affirms that more.
“It’s been a full-circle moment from the moment I took this job,” Hall-Volpenhein said. “Going to the school (he was a Jessamine County middle schooler before playing high school ball with Lexington Catholic), working with the program, playing under Kevin, training under Kevin, etc., and the list goes on.”
West Jessamine advanced to the semifinals by winning at East Carter, 4-0, and at South Laurel, 3-0, in the first two rounds last week. Hall-Volpenhein said his first year of head coaching has been filled with challenges, like having to play state tournament games on the road, but those challenges have come with tremendous rewards.
“From the moment I took this job, I didn’t think about districts. I didn’t think about regions. I didn’t think about any of the state stuff,” Hall-Volpenhein said. “It was all just about culture and environment and making sure these kids were challenged and had a positive experience.
“Obviously, we want to compete, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to win some games, but it was really … making sure that the program continued its search for excellence and that it got that high school sports should be fun.”
With only four seniors, West Jessamine also relies on juniors, sophomores and freshmen who have stepped up and helped lead the team to its sixth consecutive 12th Region title and first state semifinals appearance since 2018.
Karlie Galus, a sophomore, leads the team in goals with 20. Kylie Archer, a junior, has 19 goals and a team-high 10 assists. Another sophomore, Brooke Beasley, has 10 goals and nine assists.
“What’s been most gratifying is that these kids — we’ve worked on the environment, we’ve worked on the culture, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch them just scrap through and get experience that is beyond their years, honestly,” Hall-Volphenhein said.
Hall-Volpenhein has no illusions about what his team faces on Thursday. Notre Dame has been the No. 1 team in the state all season and is ranked by one outlet as the No. 3 team in the nation.
“We’re going to focus on keeping it fun and keeping it loose because it’s already a very high stakes game,” Hall-Volpenhein said. “I think the girls would be remiss if the girls didn’t think we were going to play defense a lot in that game. We’re going to keep it all in perspective, if you will, and make sure they are not psyching themselves out.”
Notre Dame locked in
Notre Dame Academy’s undefeated run (26-0-1) this season hasn’t come without some slight adversity. Beechwood pushed the Pandas to penalty kicks in the 35th District finals.
Then on Saturday, Lexington Catholic’s Olivia Bretz smashed a 50-yard free kick over the Notre Dame keeper’s hands and into the net for a 1-0 lead just moments into their quarterfinal match at the Pandas’ Park Hills complex. It was only the fourth goal given up by Notre Dame all season.
But it wasn’t long before Notre Dame’s skill, power and pace began to take over the match. The Pandas’ ability to possess the ball and create multiple chances against No. 3 Lexington Catholic proved that the TopDrawerSoccer.com star ratings and Division I commits on their roster aren’t just paper trappings.
“I just walked up to Macie (Feldman) and said, ‘We have to get something going here. It’s coming, but we have to connect,’” Notre Dame junior Kennedy Clark said of the moments they were down 1-0. “I knew it was coming. I wasn’t worried. I knew we were the better team. We just needed to calm down.”
A few minutes later Amber Branum ran onto a ball in the box and finished a goal at a difficult angle to tie the game. In the second half, Notre Dame increased the intensity even more, creating multiple chances and corners and a shot off the crossbar until, finally, Clark got free just inside the 18-yard box and shot the Pandas into the lead, 2-1, with 27 minutes left in the game.
“At the beginning of the season, we worked really hard to not depend on our pace and our size and put the ball down and play,” said Notre Dame first-year coach Suli Kayed. “Obviously, LexCath can compete with us athletically, so the message was put the ball down and play.”
Lexington Catholic Coach Terry Quigley said his team put everything it had into trying to defeat Notre Dame, but the Pandas were the better team Saturday.
“We’re proud of them,” Quigley said of his team, which has reached the state tournament each of the last three years and made the finals last year. “They lost to a really good team. I was happy with the effort. The effort was incredible all over the field.”
Of course, Kayed doesn’t like to see his team give up a goal, but with the school’s eighth state championship only two games from being realized, he knows that moment might help.
“I consider us fortunate to (go down 1-0), so we’re prepared for it just in case it happens to us in the semifinal or final,” he said.
Notre Dame certainly does not lack talented players. The Pandas have three who have star-ratings on TopDrawerSoccer.com, a rarity in Kentucky, which can sometimes be overlooked.
Clark, a four-star midfielder, has committed to Xavier. So, too has three-star senior defender Natalie Bain. Feldman, the other three-star midfielder, has yet to announce her college decision, but other teammates have. Emma Spivey has committed to Eastern Kentucky, Marina Ruthsatz to Wright State and Eleanor Simkonis to Cleveland State. More commitments are expected.
Kayed knows these are good problems to have, but they also come with pressure to win it all.
“The question is always, ‘Can we keep the intensity high?’ And, fortunately, we have some girls that are really hungry to play this year because they have lost in the region the last few years, Kayed said. “We show up to training every day and they are always smiling. That’s been our biggest job this year. We know we have the talent. We had all the D-I commits and everything. But can we keep the environment — while they’re learning, while we’re pushing them — can we keep it fun as well, because there’s nothing that beats a talented player that’s having fun, you know.”
Here’s a look at this year’s girls’ soccer semifinalists.
Henderson County (19-6-0)
Pedigree: 2nd Region champion.
End-of-season rankings: RPI - 44; Maher - 30.
Tournament road: Beat Marshall County 3-1 and Ohio County 5-1.
Team stats: 105 goals on 76 assists with 39 goals allowed.
Stat stuffers: Leading scorers are Ashton Lynam (44 goals, 16 assists), Kacee Butler (13 goals, four assists), Marley Collins (12 goals, 19 assists) and Careese Toombs (11 goals, six assists).
Common opponents with South Oldham: Lost to Bowling Green 4-2 on Aug. 12.
Notes: The Colonels have been to the state tournament six times under Coach Ben Dempsey, including five straight from 2015 to 2019. This year marks the team’s deepest run in the postseason. Henderson’s 6-4 win over Madisonville avenged a 4-3 regular-season loss to the Maroons. According to KHSAA online records, Henderson County has faced South Oldham once, a 5-0 loss in 2011.
South Oldham (22-2-0)
Pedigree: 8th Region champion. Seven-time state champion (1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2014).
End-of-season rankings: RPI - 2; Maher - 3.
Tournament road: Beat Bowling Green 1-0 and Bardstown 8-1.
Team stats: 96 goals on 77 assists with 15 goals allowed.
Stat stuffers: Leading scorers are Virginia Goins (17 goals), Betsy Huckaby (14) and Clara Spurlock (13). Assist leaders are Marley Kahle (12) and Alexis Kronenthal (11).
Common opponents with Henderson County: Beat Bowling Green 1-0 in the first round of the state tournament on Oct. 19.
Notes: Allyson Tucker, daughter of South Oldham coaching legend Cy Tucker (second on the state’s all-time girls’ soccer wins list) is now an assistant with the Dragons. Allyson Tucker was the head coach at Tates Creek from 2016 to 2019. This is South Oldham’s second state tournament appearance under Coach Kenneth Burke, who took over in 2015. Sacred Heart tied South Oldham’s record of seven state titles last season.
West Jessamine (16-6-1)
Pedigree: 12th Region champion. Two-time state champion (2016, 2017).
End-of-season rankings: RPI - 39; Maher - 13.
Tournament road: Beat East Carter 4-0 and South Laurel 3-0.
Team stats: 70 goals on 44 assists with 26 goals allowed.
Stat stuffers: Leading scorers are Karlie Galus (20 goals), Kylie Archer (19) and Brooke Beasley (10). Archer leads the team in assists with 10. Beasley has nine.
Common opponents with Notre Dame: Lost to South Oldham 8-0 on Aug. 14; lost to Lexington Catholic 3-1 on Sept. 1; and lost 2-1 to Dixie Heights on Sept. 11.
Notes: West Jessamine has made the state tournament in nine of the last 10 seasons, missing only 2015, which was followed by back-to-back state titles. The Colts last made the state semis in 2018. Galus and Beasley are just sophomores. Archer is a junior.
Notre Dame (26-0-1)
Pedigree: 9th Region champion. Three-time state champion (2004, 2011, 2013).
End-of-season rankings: RPI - 1; Maher - 1.
Tournament road: Beat Campbell County 7-0 and Lexington Catholic 2-1.
Team stats: 113 goals on 99 assists with four goals allowed.
Stat stuffers: Leading scorers are Macie Feldman (18 goals, 21 assists), Marina Ruthsatz (17 goals, 10 assists), Eleanor Simkonis (16 goals, six assists) and Kennedy Clark (13 goals, 11 assists).
Common opponents with West Jessamine: Beat South Oldham 3-0 on Aug. 16; beat Dixie Heights 6-0 on Aug. 28; and beat Lexington Catholic 2-1 in the state quarters on Oct. 23.
Notes: Notre Dame and West Jessamine have met four times since 2011. All of the meetings have come in the state tournament. Notre Dame won the first two (2011, 2013). West Jessamine has won the last two (2016, 2017), one of them for the state title. Both of the Colts’ wins came in penalty kick shootouts.
Girls’ soccer state tournament
At Frederick Douglass High School
Thursday’s semifinals
4 p.m.: Henderson County (19-6-0) vs. South Oldham (22-2-0)
7 p.m.: West Jessamine (16-6-1) vs. Notre Dame (26-0-1)
Saturday’s finals
7 p.m.: Championship
This story was originally published October 26, 2021 at 7:30 AM.
