By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Simon Kenton girls’ soccer team that won its first regional championship last year is off to a 3-0-1 start this season with mostly underclassmen in the lineup once again.
The only seniors on the Pioneers’ roster are forward Courtney Morgan and midfielder Abby Zoeller, an all-state player who has accepted a scholarship offer from Xavier University.
Zoeller had three goals and two assists in her team’s first four games. She’s drawing a lot of attention from opponents who are aware that she posted 31 goals and 26 assists for last year’s 8th Region championship team.
“Space has been hard to come by for her, but that’s a credit to her reputation as a player,” said Simon Kenton coach Rob Zoeller, the player’s father. “Like other good players, she’s got to play through it and find a way to make teams pay for putting extra kids on her.”
Rob Zoeller coached boys’ soccer at Louisville Ballard and girls’ soccer at Elizabethtown before he took charge of the Simon Kenton program last year. He brought his talented daughter with him. Abby transferred from Louisville Sacred Heart Academy where she earned all-state honors two previous years.
The coach said several of the returning starters from last year’s 18-4 team are already finding it hard to get playing time this season.
“I would for sure say that our talent level from last year to this year took a big jump,” Abby said. “Our younger players have all really improved and brought their ‘A’ game, so the talent is there.”
Abby has such a strong leg that the Simon Kenton football coaches used her as a place kicker during a preseason scrimmage game. Her name is on the Pioneers’ football roster, but she’ll only be used in games if necessary.
Her main focus this fall is doing what she can to help Simon Kenton win another regional championship and make a deeper run in the state playoffs than last year when they lost in the opening round to her former Sacred Heart team.
“I don’t really have any (personal) goals to get,” Abby said. “The big picture is for our team to win a state championship and show we’re the best team in Kentucky.”
To help his team accomplish that goal, coach Zoeller put together a tough schedule that includes two teams – Mount Notre Dame in Ohio and Avon in Indiana – ranked among the Fab 50 in the nation by www.topdrawersoccer.com.
“I’m hard on us,” the coach said. “I expect us to take very game and try to get every detail right because, when it really matters down the road, you have to take care of all those details and you have to be disciplined.”
Holy Cross football player selected for All-American game
Holy Cross football player Kyle Schirmann has been selected to play in the 2017 Blue-Grey All-American Game on Jan. 17 in Jacksonville, Fla.
Schirmann, a 6-foot-3, 217-pound senior, attended one of the combines used to screen players for the game and was one of four defensive ends selected by the panel of coaches.
This is Schirmann’s second season as a two-way starter for the Holy Cross football team. In addition to being a defensive end, he plays on the offensive line for the Indians. In last week’s season-opening game against Holmes, he made seven tackles and recovered a fumble.
Blue-Grey Football is an organization established in 1989 to help high school prospects from all over the country receive national exposure and improve their chances of attracting college scholarship offers.
There are three All-American Games played at NFL stadiums – East-West at Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, North-South at Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Raymond James Stadium and Blue-Grey at Jacksonville Jaguars’ EverBank Field.
Final four set in 9th Region All “A” Classic volleyball
The final three matches in the 9th Region All “A” Classic volleyball tournament will be played Wednesday at Holy Cross High School.
The semifinal matches are Holy Cross vs. Newport Central Catholic at 5:30 p.m. and St. Henry vs. Ludlow at 6:30 p.m. The winners will face off in the championship match that’s scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Regional champions advance to the Kentucky All “A” Classic small-school state tournament to be played on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Optimum Sports Complex in Louisville.
St. Henry won 9th Region and state championships in the All “A” Classic three consecutive years before getting upset by Beechwood in last year’s regional final. Beechwood made it to the 2015 state final and lost to Louisville Presentation.