By Matthew Dietz
NKyTribune sports reporter
Since a statewide realignment of girls soccer in 2012 put Notre Dame and Highlands in the 9th Region, they have been the only teams to claim the region title. Notre Dame won the first six and Highlands won the last three.
With the 2021 season beginning this week, there’s a new wrinkle to the long-standing rivalry between the highly successful programs. They both have new head coaches who happen to know each other quite well.
This summer, Chris Norris became head coach at Highlands and Suli Kayed took charge of the Notre Dame program. Norris was the boys soccer coach at Boone County from 2015-2019 before turning that team over to Kayed, who coached the Rebels the last two seasons.
“I’m hoping that between the two of us that we dominate Northern Kentucky girls soccer for the next five or six years,” Norris said.
The new coaches will pit their teams against each another on Monday, Aug. 30 when Notre Dame visits Highlands for an 8 p.m. match at Tower Park in Ft. Thomas.
Both teams have a wealth of talent once again. The coaches are trying to apply the knowledge they have picked up during their careers and implement new philosophies within the programs.
At Notre Dame, Kayed and his new coaching staff have prioritized building a connection with the players, as well as the families involved. To do this, the team held parent meetings, team meetings and allowed the players to participate in optional summer workouts, strengthening the bond before actual pre-season training even got started.
“My biggest goal coming into the program was to start building relationships as early as possible,” Kayed said. “To me, relationships come first, system comes second. If you don’t have relationships, your system will not work.”
At Highlands, Norris and his staff have prioritized three elements of the game to each player — communication, confidence and composure. The team has also developed a mentoring program for players as well as parents.
“We really focus on the mental toughness of what it takes to be a strong teammate and a good winner in Northern Kentucky,” Norris said.
The Highlands Bluebirds return their top two scorers from last year’s region championship team in sophomore forward Laney Smith (21 goals, 8 assists) and senior midfielder Faith Broering (15 goals, 6 assists). With new starters in several other positions, Broering is taking on an important leadership role.
“She is doing a fantastic job of not only organizing our midfield but also making sure that the younger players understand what it takes to get to the next level,” Norris said of the University of Cincinnati recruit.
On the defensive side, the Bluebirds have only one starter, Jade Rehlberger, returning from a unit that did not allow a goal in 15 of 19 games last season.
Norris said vacancies in the lineup give other players an opportunity to step into a defensive role, including senior Margo Brandenberger, juniors Bianca Hemsath and Ruby Smith and freshman Kate Fausz.
Highlands senior goalkeeper Megan Gessner, who allowed only two goals in 18 appearances last year, will not be available for every game this fall because she plans to play with a club team as well. While she’s away, the Bluebirds will have senior Haley Parks tending the net.
“When Meg is able to join us,” Norris said, “she trains hard, she raises our goalkeepers unit in training, and we’ll try to get her in as many games as possible to make our team as strong as possible.”
Notre Dame was also hit hard by graduation after a season-ending loss to Dixie Heights in last year’s region semifinals. One of the departing seniors was Lauren Carothers, who scored a team-high 15 goals and was named Miss Kentucky Soccer.
The team’s top returning scorer is senior Macie Feldman (12 goals, 9 assists). Two other seniors — Eleanor Simkonis and Marina Ruthsatz — head a list of other possible starters in the attacking third.
“We have about six or seven players that I confidently think will start some games this year higher up the field,” Kayed said. “It’s just figuring out who had the best week of training.”
One of the Notre Dame coach’s goals is to create a system where the attack is less focused on individual ball skills and more on each player doing their part to make the team as productive as possible.
“I think the biggest thing for me is, can we create a system of attack in the final third where we don’t depend on a Macie or on a Eleanor that’s going to score goals,” Kayed said. “When we were at Bluegrass (State Games), I believe we had six different players that scored goals when we were scrimmaging last week, and that’s what we want to see.”
Notre Dame’s goalkeeping situation was also in question after the team lost Kate Moore and Sarah Witt to graduation. That opens up an opportunity for senior Abby Breeze and sophomore Hannah Renaker to step into that position.
“Both of them are competing for that varsity spot,” Kayed said. “Both of them are looking really good, so our goalkeeping situation I’m not worried about at all.”