By Brendan Connelly
NKyTribune sports reporter
Notre Dame finished a record-setting girls soccer season with a 1-0 win over South Oldham in the state championship match on Saturday at Frederick Douglass High School in Lexington.
The Pandas scored the winning goal early in the second half when senior Natalie Bain headed the ball into the net off a corner kick by junior Ellie Greenwell and went on post their 25th shutout of the season, which broke the previous state record of 20.
Notre Dame also set a state record for most wins in a season with a 28-0-1 mark and set a Northern Kentucky record for most goals in a season with 118 while giving up only four.
The Pandas accomplished all that under the direction of new head coach Suli Kayed and his staff.
After a back-and-forth start, Notre Dame’s offense came alive in the 12th minute, hitting the crossbar with one shot and forcing South Oldham sophomore goalkeeper Katelyn Feeney into an early save on another.
In a first half that featured 23 total substitutions with only one foul and corner kick, Notre Dame’s offense was able to manage nine shots, with five being stopped by Feeney, who had allowed three goals in her team’s loss to Notre Dame early in the season.
In the second half, it appeared that South Oldham’s strategy of frequent substitutions would continue to keep Notre Dame off the board, but that didn’t last for long.
In the 58th minute, a corner kick by Greenwell was followed by a shot from junior Kennedy Clark. Greenwell’s next corner found the back of the net by way of Bain, giving the Pandas a long-awaited 1-0 lead.
The Panda defense took over in the final 22 minutes, only allowing two Lady Dragon corner kicks. Despite the sluggish pace to the match, Notre Dame notched 13 total shots while not allowing a single South Oldham attempt.
Bain was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Clark and senior Amber Branum were the other Pandas named to the state all-tournament team. Notre Dame now has a 4-6 record in state championship games with previous victories coming in 2004, 2011 and 2013.
CovCath falls to Lexington Dunbar, 2-1, in boys state final
Covington Catholic returned to the boys soccer state championship game for the first time since 2016 and lost to Lexington Dunbar, 2-1, on a goal scored with less than seven minutes remaining.
Dunbar was on the offensive early, launching three shots in the first seven minutes. The first CovCath chance came when Jacob Brandenburg hit the crossbar in the 11th minute.
Following two yellow cards in nine minutes, the Bulldogs lost sophomore forward Joany Chavez to a red card in the 21st minute. The reduction to 10 players didn’t hamper Dunbar’s aggressiveness. The Bulldogs ripped 13 shots in the first half, forcing CovCath senior keeper Carter Eilers into six saves. Dunbar also registered five corner kicks, while the Colonels did not have any in the first period.
The Bulldogs came out firing in the second period, recording two shots on goal in the first three minutes. The second one resulted in an Isaac Cano goal following a Ryan O’Hara corner kick, giving Dunbar a 1-0 lead.
The Colonels responded almost instantly. After Jonathan Gallenstein ripped CovCath’s second shot of the match in the 47th minute, Colton Peiper recovered the ball on the rebound and tied the game at one goal apiece.
Both teams traded shots, corner kicks and fouls for the next 27 minutes before Rodrigo Romero gave Dunbar a 2-1 lead in the 74th minute. The Colonels looked for an equalizer, but they could only muster a single shot before time expired.
The CovCath players named to the state all-tournament team were senior Aiden Hemmer, junior Grey Jordan and Eilers. After winning just two of their first 13 matches, the Colonels finished the season with a 14-9-5 record.