By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
A new head coach and his talented daughter gave the Simon Kenton girls’ soccer team the lift it needed this season to set a team record for most wins and claim its first regional championship since 2007.
In the 8th Region final on Thursday, Simon Kenton won a penalty kick shootout and defeated Oldham County, 4-3, to advance to the sectional round of the state playoffs. The win gives the Pioneers an 18-3 record, the most wins in team history, after finishing 8-11-1 last year.
Rob Zoeller is the new head coach that turned around the Pioneers’ program with the help of his daughter, Abigail, a junior striker who has 31 goals and 26 assists this season.
“It just kind of worked out,” coach Zoeller said of the team’s successful season. “But we’ve still got a lot of unfinished business. We want to keep getting after it.”
In the sectional round of the playoffs, Simon Kenton will play the winner of the 7th Region championship match between Louisville Sacred Heart and Assumption that will be played on Friday.
Abigail Zoeller was an all-state player on the Sacred Heart team the last two seasons before her family moved to Northern Kentucky. Her father said they made the move because his wife is from Bracken County and they wanted to be closer to her family. The other reason was Abigail plays for an elite soccer club based in Ohio and they were getting tired of the long commute from Louisville for practices.
Rob Zoeller had coached boys’ soccer at Louisville Ballard and girls’ soccer at Elizabethtown before he took charge of the Simon Kenton program this year. Even though he had mostly freshman and sophomores in the starting lineup, he molded the Pioneers into a top contender.
“We had a bunch of seniors who did not return (this season), but we had four seniors who decided to stick it out and believed in what I was asking them to do,” coach Zoeller said. “They all worked hard and the younger kids really came along.”
All of the goals in the 8th Region final on Thursday came in the first half. Simon Kenton took a 2-0 lead on goals by sophomore Megan Buckner and senior Gill Morris, but Oldham County surged ahead on three consecutive goals by freshman Tristan Whalen. Abigail Zoeller got the equalizer just before half ended.
After neither team scored in the second half or overtime periods, the players lined up for a penalty kick shootout. Abigail Zoeller, Buckner and senior Kendra Chambers put three of the first four shots for Simon Kenton in the net. The Pioneers didn’t have to take their fifth shot because the team’s two goalkeepers, senior Abby Thatcher and freshman Skylin Yates, each blocked a PK attempt and another Oldham County player missed the net.
“We play with a lot of freshman and sophomores so it was good stuff,” coach Zoeller said of his team’s performance in the shootout. “I was so proud of the kids.”
GOALS: SK — Megan Buckner, Gill Morris, Abigail Zoeller. OC — Tristan Whalen 3.
RECORDS: Simon Kenton 18-3, Oldham County 16-8.
COVINGTON CATHOLIC 3, COOPER 0
CovCath’s defense posted its second shutout against Cooper this season in the 9th Region semifinal match on Thursday at Dixie Heights High School.
Coach Jeremy Robertson made sure his CovCath players marked Cooper forward Adam Snow, who scored 29 of his team’s 51 goals this year.
“Our defense did a great good shutting down Adam Snow, who is a great player,” Robertson said. “Offensively, our forwards scored all our goals, which is great to see.”
The Colonels got goals from Jacob Litzler and Griffin Lamb in the first half and Josh Hildreth scored in the second half. But the Colonels let a few scoring opportunities get away, according to their coach.
“Even though it’s playoff time, you always have things you can work on,” Robertson said. “We still had about 15 corner kicks where we need to capitalize on.”
CovCath will play Ryle in the regional championship match at 5 p.m. Saturday. Ryle defeated tournament host Dixie Heights, 2-1, in the other semifinal match on Thursday. The last two times CovCath played Ryle in regular season matches they both ended in a 0-0 tie.
This is the seventh time in the last nine years that CovCath has advanced to a regional final, but the Colonels haven’t won a title since 2009.
GOALS: CC — Jacob Litzler, Griffin Lamb, Josh Hildreth.
SHUTOUT: Sam Romes (CC).
RECORDS: CovCath 19-2-2, Cooper 10-10-2.
RYLE 2, DIXIE HEIGHTS 1
Senior midfielder Victor Pastrana scored both goals for Ryle in the 9th Region semifinal victory with Nate Hoffman and Matt Roe getting the assists.
Sophomore midfielder Lai Phun Sang scored for Dixie Heights and sophomore goalkeeper Simon Yeager made several saves to keep the score close until the end, but the Colonels couldn’t get a goal to tie it.
Ryle will play CovCath in the regional championship match at 5 p.m. Saturday at Dixie Heights. This is first time the Raiders have reached the title match since 2011.
GOALS: R — Victor Pastrana 2. DH — Lai Phun Sang.
RECORDS: Ryle 15-7-2, Dixie Heights 9-11-4.