Lexington Catholic extends city streak as it prepares for annual Lady Knights Challenge Cup
Lexington Catholic extended its girls soccer win streak against city rivals to 29 games with a 2-0 defeat of Lafayette on Monday night, but the Generals did not go down meekly.
“It’s always intense, but we just put our head down and focused,” said senior striker Zara McCarthy, who got on the end of a perfect diagonal pass into the box from Lucy DeMovellan to set the final margin midway through the second half. “We knew coming into it they were going to be hard.”
The Generals (5-1-2) came into the 43rd District matchup unbeaten. With a senior-laden roster used to dealing with Lexington Catholic’s traditional relentless pressure, Lafayette handled it well, created chances and looked like a team that could threaten the four-time defending 11th Region champions.
“The fight is there,” Lafayette coach Taylor Roden said. “They had two really good goals. We weathered a lot of storm with the amount of corners we gave up.”
Lexington Catholic (7-1-1) got the opening goal from Ansley Stephenson who pounced on a corner kick ball touched down into her path by Sara-Kate Barnes with just over 10 minutes left until halftime.
“I have a feeling we’re going to meet them again and I’m hoping for a different outcome,” Roden said. “We’ve got some work to do tactically to break them down, … but this is going to give us a good idea.”
Lafayette’s Campbell Tippey and Aubrey Cloyd each put a difficult shot on goal in the first and second halves, respectively. Cloyd’s right-footed blast late in the second half had to be tipped onto the crossbar with a dive by Knights keeper Bella Bretz.
“Lafayette is a really good team,” LexCath coach Terry Quigley said. “It was a good result and it would have been even closer if Bella hadn’t made that incredible save. I thought it was in. Still to this moment I don’t know how it isn’t in.”
After games later this week against seven-time defending 12th Region champ West Jessamine and Madison Southern, LexCath will host its annual Lady Knights Challenge Cup beginning Sept. 11.
This year’s tournament features the usual array of top-flight contenders like Sacred Heart, Notre Dame and Assumption. Last year’s state runner-up, Elizabethtown, will be there, too, along with Dixie Heights, Bethlehem and Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Lexington Catholic opened the season with a 0-0 tie against Sacred Heart and suffered its only loss, 3-0, to Notre Dame a week later.
Quigley blamed that lopsided defeat on coaching. A Pandas penalty kick broke a scoreless tie with 12 minutes left in the game and he threw everyone forward but the keeper to try to get back in it, he said.
“It was a bad coaching job,” Quigley said, laughing. “It was like layups after that. It was all on me. We were playing fine. We’re passing the ball really well this year.”
The five-day event will have a winners’ and losers’ bracket and culminate with a championship game at 7 p.m. on Sept. 16.
“It’s our home turf. We have to protect it,’ McCarthy said. “We won last year, but we know it’s a difficult tournament.”
Lady Knights Challenge Cup
At Lexington Catholic
Sept. 11: Sacred Heart vs. Elizabethtown, 6 p.m.; Lexington Catholic vs. Dixie Heights, 8 p.m.
Sept. 12: Bethlehem vs. Paul Laurence Dunbar, 6 p.m.; Notre Dame vs. Assumption, 8 p.m.
Sept. 13: Games at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sept. 14: Games at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sept. 16: Seventh-place game, 1 p.m.; fifth-place game, 3 p.m.; third-place game, 5 p.m.; championship, 7 p.m.
