‘Really confident’ Lexington Catholic advances to girls’ state soccer quarterfinals
Lexington Catholic’s dominant run through the girls’ high school soccer postseason continued Monday with a 5-0 win over visiting Highlands, a team that had knocked off the defending state champions just two days earlier.
“We’re feeling really confident going into the tournament, but we know nothing’s over with, yet,” said senior forward Mary Martin Hampton, who scored the Knights’ first goal off an assist from Zara McCarthy less than eight minutes into the game and then assisted a McCarthy goal later in the first half. “We’re just taking it game by game and respecting every opponent that we play, because anything can happen at this time of the year.”
Lexington Catholic’s first two goals came in the run of play as the Knights heaped pressure on Highlands in the middle of the field and created a number of scoring opportunities. McCarthy’s cross found Hampton straight away at the top of the 18-yard box for a right-footed smash over the goalie and into the net.
With 10 minutes to go until halftime, Hampton served a looping ball into the box from the left sideline which McCarthy ran onto and put away for a 2-0 lead.
Then LexCath displayed how dangerous it can be on set pieces. Each of the Knights’ next three goals came via corner kicks on second-chance balls Highlands could not clear.
Izzy Skinner put LexCath up 3-0 just before the break with a shot that caromed off a Highlands defender. Katherine Truitt poked home a 4-0 lead as the ball bounded to her off the goalie’s gloves on another corner 10 minutes into the second half. Skinner added her second goal and Lexington Catholic’s fifth in the shutout on a corner kick with 10 minutes left.
The Knights (25-1) have won 25 straight games and have outscored their postseason opponents at district, region and now state by a total of 32-0.
“It’s been really fun. We’ve been growing a lot as a team just trying to improve every game,” said senior midfielder Katherine Truitt, a Kentucky commit recently named 11th Region player of the year for the third year in a row.
According to the widely accepted Maher Rankings, Highlands (15-7-3) came into the tournament as the No. 7 ranked team in the state having won the 9th Region championship 3-2 over No. 4 Notre Dame.
That might confuse some who look at Highlands’ No. 31 ranking in the KHSAA’s RPI system, used to establish home-field advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs. Maher seems to give much more weight to strength of schedule than the RPI does. All of Highlands’ losses came against top 25 opponents.
Lexington Catholic ranks as the No. 2 team in the state in both Maher and the RPI behind No. 1 South Oldham. The Dragons defeated No. 5 Assumption 2-0 Monday to advance in their first-round game.
Next up, the Knights will host the winner of Tuesday’s game between RPI No. 52 East Carter (16-6-1) and RPI No. 53 Bishop Brossart (13-8-4) in the state quarterfinals. Maher ranks Brossart at No. 31. East Carter’s Maher ranking is No. 58.
The game will be played Thursday. The state semifinals and finals will be held Oct. 26 and 29, respectively, at Frederick Douglass High School.
West Jessamine advances
For the second year in a row, West Jessamine’s difficult schedule hurt the Colts’ RPI rating and meant a first-round road game to keep the 12th Region champs’ postseason hopes alive.
And for the second year in a row, the Colts (11-8-2) came out with a decisive win to prove their low RPI (they’re No. 82) doesn’t befit their station as one of the state’s best programs. Maher ranks West Jessamine at No. 30.
West Jessamine defeated RPI No. 7 Prestonsburg 4-0 with three goals by Kylie Archer and another for Brooke Beasley. Maher ranks Prestonsburg at No. 37.
West Jessamine will head to RPI No. 36 Corbin (17-4-1) on Thursday for their round-of-eight game. The Redhounds defeated Estill County 5-1 Monday. Maher ranks Corbin at No. 67.
