‘They fought heroically.’ Injury-bitten Lexington Catholic falls in state semis
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lexington Catholic battled injuries but reached 2025 state semifinals, losing 3-1.
- Forward Joanna Bryant exited with a severe sprained ankle midway through first half.
- Sacred Heart advanced to the 2025 final with goals from Miron, Lancaster and Holtgrave.
Lexington Catholic began the 2025 girls high school soccer season under a cloud of uncertainty.
Five expected returning starters suffered offseason knee injuries. Only one, senior goalkeeper Bella Bretz, had enough recovery time to return before the campaign was out.
Nevertheless, the Knights did what the Knights do. They beat a number of other top teams to achieve a No. 2 statewide ranking. They avenged a loss to Paul Laurence Dunbar — their first 43rd District finals loss in six years — by claiming their second 11th Region title in a row over that same rival.
But Wednesday, under a soaking rain as unrelenting as its opponent, No. 1 Sacred Heart, Lexington Catholic suffered another key injury that helped spell a 3-1 defeat in the KHSAA Girls State Soccer Semifinals at Dunbar High School.
Midway through the first half, Lexington Catholic senior forward Joanna Bryant, a Miami (Ohio) commit who was recently named city and region player of the year, suffered a badly sprained ankle in front of the Sacred Heart bench.
The scoreline doesn’t reflect what happened over the next 60 minutes as Lexington Catholic first endured Sacred Heart’s pressure to keep the game scoreless at half and then began to find ways to push forward without Bryant the rest of the way. The game was tied at 1-1 with 10 minutes to play before Sacred Heart struck twice more late.
“I was amazed. When Jo went out, I thought that was it, because she was taking us down the field,” Lexington Catholic coach Terry Quigley said. “They should be so proud, because they fought heroically.”
The game remained scoreless until just under 15 minutes into the second half when a Lexington Catholic foul gave Sacred Heart a free kick from 25 yards away. Samantha Miron put a shot over the Knights wall that took a quick skip in front of the goal line and rifled inside the near post for a 1-0 lead.
As the game wore on, it looked unlikely that Lexington Catholic would get a breakthrough, but a Sacred Heart foul gave Lily Crist a free kick near the fan sideline from 36 yards away. Crist’s kick covered the entire distance in the air and ticked off Sacred Heart keeper Amira Hendrick’s gloves and into goal to tie it at 1-1 with 10:37 to play.
“That was an amazing free kick by Lily Crist. She just really capitalized when we had to,” said Bryant, who stood with her teammates on the sideline after being checked by trainers. She had a pronounced limp as she went to receive her all-tournament team award with teammate Lily Knopp. “We were really courageous in the first half. We put in all the effort and did the best we could to compete with Sacred Heart.”
It didn’t take long for the Valkyries to answer. Mia Lancaster ran onto a pass from Bella Holtgrave and delivered a scoring blast from 12 yards away with 8:40 left.
“It was a little defeating. I’m not going to lie,” Lancaster said about LexCath’s equalizer. “But it was just motivation for us to work 10 times harder to get our lead back. … It’s really unfortunate that (LexCath) lost one of their best players, but they put up a real fight and played really well.”
Lexington Catholic quickly threatened again, but an awkward collision in Sacred Heart’s box took down sophomore Harper Ward, the Knights’ second-leading scorer. Ward played nearly the entire game despite an injured foot. Cries for a penalty from LexCath’s fans drew no favor from the official.
A few moments later, Holtgrave fed Emma Zutterman a long through-ball up the middle to perfectly set up Sacred Heart’s final score.
The Valkyries (23-2-1) will try for a record ninth KHSAA state soccer title when they face Highlands at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lexington Sporting Club Stadium. It will be the first time the girls and boys state finals will be held at a professional venue. St. Xavier takes on Covington Catholic in the boys final at 4:30 p.m.
Lexington Catholic (21-5-1) closes the chapter on another deep tournament run. The Knights lost by the same score to Sacred Heart in last year’s state finals.
Quigley said his team has a lot to appreciate and to look forward to. The offseason injuries meant a number of younger players had to step into significant roles they might not have otherwise.
“It was just a wonderful season,” Quigley said. “And a lot of them are coming back, so we should be OK next year.”
Highlands tops Central Hardin in shootout
Highlands goalkeeper Bailee Class saved Central Hardin’s third and fourth penalty kick tries and then put home one of her own to seal the Bluebirds’ 2-1 (4-2 penalty kicks) win in Wednesday’s first girls state soccer semifinal.
Highlands scored the opening goal of the match as Ally Lickert pounced on a deflected crossing pass to her from Hope Darnell with 24:24 to play.
But Central Hardin earned an Addison Maddock corner kick less than three minutes later that Carly Lang scored on to tie it up at 1-1.
Darnell took Highlands’ first PK directly at Central Hardin keeper Makenna Clark and saw it saved. Then, Hailey Fritz, Tenley Graves and Reese Wilkens made theirs to set up Class’ game-winner.
Saturday’s KHSAA Championships
At Lexington Sporting Club Stadium
Boys: St. Xavier vs. Covington Catholic, 4:30 p.m.
Girls: Sacred Heart vs. Highlands, 7 p.m.
