Bryan Station’s soccer season ends, but its run will go down in history
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bryan Station reached its first state soccer semifinal, ending season 20-5-4.
- St. Xavier used quick goals and clinical finishing to win 3-0 in semis.
- Community support and team resilience defined Bryan Station’s deepest playoff run.
For the past several years, Bryan Station boys soccer has scrapped shoulder to shoulder with Lexington rivals who bear state championship stars on their uniform crests, often giving as good as it got.
This year, the Defenders surpassed them all on their way to the KHSAA Boys State Soccer Tournament semifinals Tuesday at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.
Although Bryan Station’s 3-0 loss to 16-time state champion St. Xavier means the Defenders won’t get a star for its jersey badges this time around, there’s no questioning the hearts that beat underneath or the support they’ve gotten from the community as they achieved the greatest soccer season in school history.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our team,” Bryan Station senior wing back Joaquin Guerrant said as he wiped away his tears. “Going into the year, no one thought we would come this far. We certainly didn’t think so. We set out goals every year, and I can tell you, making state wasn’t one of them. We were just trying to get a win at regionals. We did that. And we just kept going.”
No. 8 Bryan Station (20-5-4) had a lot go its way as it won its first 11th Region Championship in a penalty kick shootout over defending state champion and statewide Rundell Rankings No. 1 Henry Clay on Oct. 17. It held the high-powered Blue Devils scoreless for 90 minutes.
But one minute against No. 2 St. Xavier (22-2-3) proved costly Tuesday as a difficult bounce over Bryan Station keeper Luke Majors’ head gave an open net to Tigers forward Brady Youssefi, who beat Majors to the ball for a 1-0 lead with 24:01 left in the first half.
Less than a minute later, the Tigers scored again as Jonah Gates finished a crossing pass through the Station defense from Max Fahey.
“The key was getting that first goal to go in, which was just a fluke,” St. Xavier coach Andy Schulten said. “In 35 years of coaching soccer, I don’t think I’ve seen a ball skip that high off a serve from the run of play. … That kind of opened things up for us.”
Majors, who made incredible saves all postseason, couldn’t help but blame himself for the initial miscue. His placement on the all-tournament team along with winger Rafael Pimentel by their coach would argue against that notion.
“I just hate that it had to go that way. I feel like I let my guys down, but it was still a great run,” said Majors, a senior who was first team all-city and all-region this season. “They had the momentum. They had the experience. We knew that. We’ve been able to put up with that in previous games. This one was just a little too big of a task.”
Bryan Station pushed forward with greater numbers to start the second half and created more offensive chances. Then, a looping cross from outside the 18-yard box from Graham Wheatley found Fahey at Bryan Station’s far post. Fahey’s header put St. X up 3-0 with 29:20 to play.
“We just had a couple of very unfortunate breakdowns that put us behind the eight-ball, and against a team like that, you can’t do that,” Bryan Station coach Alex Tungate said.
The Defenders battled on as their fans continued to cheer. “Lets go Station!” rang out before and after the final horn. Bryan Station’s fans rose to their feet to salute the team as time ran out.
“We were down 3-0 with 10 minutes left, and they continued to support us,” Majors said. “The support has been amazing. Fans, everyone, my teammates, have rallied. It’s not how we wanted it to end. But we’ll remember it as a good run. It’s going to suck tonight. … but it was still good run.”
Bryan Station now has a KHSAA state semifinalist trophy to go alongside the one for this year’s 11th Region crown. They’ll make a nice display in the school case alongside the 2018 42nd District championship.
“We’ve been trying to do a good job of bringing Station into the picture as one of the higher-level soccer teams,” Tungate said. “And our fan base has been fantastic during this postseason run. It just kind of swelled and made the experience better for the kids.”
After the 11th Region championship win, Guerrant spoke about what that title meant to Bryan Station’s soccer future. He kept that in mind Tuesday.
“I’m proud of this group and the resilience we’ve shown all year,” Guerrant said. “That’s all I can ask for for my last year in front of everybody. And I wish everyone the best for the rest of their high school careers.”
Covington Catholic tops South Oldham in shootout
Covington Catholic goalkeeper Booker Gifford saved South Oldham’s fourth penalty-kick shootout attempt and watched as the Dragons’ fifth try sailed over the crossbar to help give the Colonels a 1-0 (4-3 shootout) win in Tuesday’s first state tournament semifinal matchup.
The teams combined for seven shots on goal during a scoreless 80 minutes plus two five-minute overtime periods before South Oldham earned a 2-1 edge in the shootout thanks to a save by Ethan Briscoe on Covington Catholic’s second PK try by Cole Bishop.
Covington Catholic’s Cole Spaulding, Max Holocher, Leo Dyas and Tanner Robertson made their PKs as the Colonels rallied to earn their way back to the state finals after a four years away.
Saturday’s championship
KHSAA Boys State Soccer Tournament final
At Lexington Sporting Club Stadium
St. Xavier vs. Covington Catholic, 4 p.m.
This story was originally published October 29, 2025 at 9:18 AM.
