By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The Highlands girls soccer team advanced to the championship game of the state tournament for the first time in 10 years with a 3-0 win over Bardstown Bethlehem in the semifinals on Wednesday at Fredrick Douglass High School in Lexington.
Highlands (23-4) will play Louisville Sacred Heart (24-1-1) in the title game at 6 p.m. Saturday at the same location. The teams met in two previous state finals with Highlands winning in 2006 and Sacred Heart winning in 2008.
Sacred Heart has a 2-0 record against Highlands this season. The final scores were 5-4 on Aug. 25 at Highlands and 2-0 on Sept. 15 in a tournament at Lexington Catholic.
In the rain-soaked semifinal game on Wednesday, Highlands posted its 19th shutout of the season with junior goalkeeper Maggie Hinegardner saving six shots on goal.
The Bluebirds were credited with 18 shots on goal. Junior forward Maria Broering scored twice off assists by senior forward Lindsey Meyer, who got the team’s final goal.
Meyer, a Northern Kentucky University recruit, has gotten a goal or an assist in seven of her team’s eight post-season playoff victories. In three state tournament games, she has added three goals and three assists to her team-leading totals.
Broering came off the bench and scored the game’s first goal in the 28th minute. Early in the second half, she put the ball in the net following up a shot by Meyer to give the Bluebirds a 2-0 lead. It was Broering’s first two-goal game of the season.
Meyer capped the scoring in the 53rd minute. She got her 28th goal of the season off a through pass up the middle by sophomore teammate Kenzie Nehus.
Northern Kentucky girls soccer teams have a 6-9 record in state championship games. Highlands won back-to-back state titles in 2005 and 2006 before losing to Sacred Heart in the 2008 state final.
If the Highlands boys soccer team wins its semifinal game with Hopkinsville on Thursday, it will also advance to the state final for the first time since 2008 when it lost to Louisville St. Xavier.
GIRLS SOCCER PLAYOFFS
Semifinals
Louisville Sacred Heart 3, West Jessamine 0
Highlands 3, Bardstown Bethlehem 0
Championship – Saturday at Fredrick Douglass H.S.
Louisville Sacred Heart (24-1-1) vs. Highlands (23-4), 6 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER PLAYOFFS
Thursday — Semifinals at Fredrick Douglass in Lexington
Lexington Henry Clay (12-8-3) vs. Louisville St. Xavier (24-2-1), 6 p.m.
Highlands (23-1-3) vs. Hopkinsville (19-6-2), 8 p.m.
Championship – Saturday at Fredrick Douglass H.S.
Henry Clay-St. Xavier winner vs. Highlands-Hopkinsville winner, 8 p.m.