SanktBear

With the end of Week 4, here is my top 15: Sacred Heart South Oldham Lexington Catholic Assumption Notre Dame Owensboro Catholic Bethlehem Simon Kenton Elizabethtown Dixie Heights Greenwood Conner Highlands McCracken County Bowling Green Others to watch (in no particular order): Bowling Green, Atherton, Manual, GRC, St. Henry Sacred Heart holds on to the top spot even though they had a tough time in Zionsville, IN (so did the rest of the KY schools...). LexCath continues to roll, but the last couple of opponents have managed to find the back of the net. Cooper falls out of the rankings after being dominated by Simon Kenton, perhaps playing an unnecessary game that results in a 14-0 win is not great prep for tougher games. The LexCath Challenge Cup will play a big role in what next weekend rankings look like.

With the end of Week 3, here is my top 15: Sacred Heart South Oldham Assumption Lexington Catholic Notre Dame Bethlehem Greenwood Cooper Owensboro Catholic Dixie Heights Simon Kenton Elizabethtown Highlands Conner Manual Others to watch (in no particular order): GRC, McCracken County, Atherton, St. Henry, Bowling Green, Bishop Brossart Sacred Heart walked away from Crestwood with the 3-2 win over South Oldham played a big role in the shuffling of the top 5. That game coupled with South Oldham's controlling win over Notre Dame pushes the Pandas down the list a bit. Campbell County's struggle to score goals has them drop out of the top 15. While there not as many top 15 match-ups this week, LexCath hosting Bethlehem should be a great game to watch.

St. Henry/Highlands tie Assumption St. Henry Beechwood Portland

With the end of Week 2, here is my top 15: South Oldham Notre Dame Sacred Heart Assumption Lexington Catholic Dixie Heights Highlands Campbell County Bethlehem Marshall County Elizabethtown Greenwood Cooper Owensboro Catholic Simon Kenton Others to watch (in no particular order): Ohio County, GRC, Bishop Brossart, Conner, Manual, St. Henry Not much change up top, South Oldham continues to score without surrendering any goals. Campbell County drops a bit after a tie and revenge loss. E-Town's win over North Oldham has them move up a couple spots. Greenwood and Simon Kenton both completed a perfect weekends in TN to enter the rankings for the first time. It should be a very interesting week with multiple games involving teams that are both in the top 15.

NDA Dixie/Campbell Tie Highlands Campbell Xavier

With the end of Week 1, here is my top 15 after the first week of play. South Oldham Notre Dame Acamdemy Sacred Heart Campbell County Assumption Dixie Heights Lexington Catholic Highlands North Oldham Bethlehem Marshall County Cooper Owensboro Catholic GRC Elizabethtown Others to watch (in no particular order): Ohio County, Conner, Dunbar, Bishop Brossart, Greenwood, Simon Kenton Campbell County's championship run in the FCSS was the biggest influencer of this week's rankings. South Oldham's hot preseason has continued at a torrid pace outscoring quality competition 20-0. On the otherside, West Jessamine had a less than ideal start to fall out of the rankings altoghter.

St Henry Ryle NDA Highlands/Assumption tie SK/Bishop Brossart tie

If I heard correctly last night, Cooper won 4-0.

With the start of the regular season tomorrow, here is my top 15 for the entire state. South Oldham Notre Dame Academy Sacred Heart Lexington Catholic Bethlehem Dixie Heights Assumption Highlands West Jessamine Cooper Bowling Green Owensboro Catholic North Oldham Campbell County Lafayette Others to watch (in no particular order): Conner, Marshall County, Bishop Brossart, Elizabethtown, Greenwood I tried to take into consideration scrimmage results, but with limited results being posted online, I largely based this on who is returning to each team. My hope is to do this each week, likely Sunday or Monday.

11th Region Lexington Catholic is looking to lay the groundwork for a 4-peat in the region tournament. The Lady Knights will likely have a balanced attack but look for Oliva Bretz and Kylie Stephenson to play large roles for LexCath. In addition to avenging a postseason lost to NDA, LexCath will be looking to defend its’ state 2A title this season.Key games – Sacred Heart, Bethlehem, Lafayette, Dixie, Assumption Lafayette has been having an outstanding preseason, with only a 0-0 draw against Simon Kenton standing in the way of a perfect preseason. The Generals only lost 4 to graduation but will need to find a way to beat LexCath for the first time since 2004. Dunbar, Sayre, and Madison Southern could also play a part in answering the question of who comes out on top. 12th Region West Jessamine has won ever region title since Boyle Co. in 2015 and will be looking to continue the trend this season. The goal scoring trio of Galus, Archer, and Beasley will likely dictate how far the Colts are able to go. Never one to shy away from competition, West Jessamine will be postseason-ready if their legs can survive a very difficult out-of-region schedule. Key games- LexCath, South Oldham, Loveland (OH), Bethlehem, Notre Dame, Sacred Heart, Highlands Southwestern only lost two games last season, one was the region final to West Jessamine, but they did lose two of their top three scorers to graduation. Somerset could challenge but will need to make a strong run in the All-A to get more difficult games on the schedule. The Warriors and Briar Jumpers likely need to address these issues to have a chance at knocking West Jessamine off the podium. 13th Region South Laurel is coming off a run to the state quarterfinals and is the favorite in the region this season. The Lady Cardinals return 3 of their top 4 scorers, but will be under the guidance of a new coach. South Laurel will need to make good use of the few difficult games on the schedule if they are wanting to make some noise come late October. Key games – Assumption, LexCath Cup, Southwestern, Somerset North Laurel and Whitley Co. will do their best to challenge South Laurel, but I think the gap between them might be too big to close this season. 14th Region Estill Co. will be working toward securing a 4-peat in the region tournament this season. The Lady Engineers will be led by Maci Muncie and Kaylee Powell but look to replace Gracie Rucker (GK) and Hannah Ross (FW). Estill Co. likely needs to make a long run in the state 2A tournament to get more difficult games on the schedule to get ready for October. Key games – Madison Central, Fleming Co., Lincoln Co., Prestonsburg, 2A Tournament Perry Co. Central and Letcher Co. Central were not too far behind Estill Co. last season. Both the Lady Commodores and Lady Cougars will need to replace significant goals lost to graduation to have a chance at challenging for a region title. 15th Region Prestonsburg had its hopes for a 3-peat ended last season by Johnson Central on PKs. The Lady Blackcats will rely on Anna Burchett (Ohio U. commit) to power them this coming season. If they are to avenge the lost to Johnson Central, they will likely need a deep run in the state All-A to prepare for October. Key games – East Carter, Russell, State All-A, Estill Co. Johnson Central and Martin Co. should be able to compete with Prestonsburg this season. To have success against the Lady Blackcats, both the Lady Eagles and Lady Cardinals will need to find ways to replace goal scorers lost to graduation. 16th Region East Carter will be looking to repeat following its’ first region championship. The Lady Raiders will continue to be powered by the scoring duo of Ellie Thomas and Emersyn Elliott. The schedule has been improved from last season, but we may not know if it was strengthened enough until mid/late October. Key games – Prestonsburg, Montgomery Co., St George’s (TN), Jefferson Co. (TN), Russell, GRC Russell and Fleming Co. each had their seasons ended last year by East Carter. To have a chance at taking down East Carter, the Red Devils and Panthers will need to come up with a way of stopping East Carter’s Thomas and Elliott, something they were not able to do last October.

6th Region Whitefield Academy will look to make another run after losing to Mercy in double OT last season. The Lady Wildcats only graduated one senior and return their entire starting lineup. While it may come as a surprise, Whitefield played Mercy to two 1-goal loses in the district and region championships. Sara Ritter will play a significant role in any sort of postseason run for the Lady Wildcats. Key games- Atherton, Mercy, All-A Mercy has made it to the region finals each of the last four season, expect them to continue this streak, but I think Whitefield has their number this season. If Mercy comes up short, it will likely be due to replacing 11 graduating seniors. 7th Region Sacred Heart has won every region championship since the 2013 season. Under the new leadership of former Jamaican international player, Shaun Francis, the Valkyries have a strong chance of continuing the streak. Rising Sophomores Caitlin Chase and Ameerah Maamry will look to build off an incredible first high school seasons and lead the Valkyries deep into the postseason. An incredibly challenging schedule will be very intriguing to watch. Key games – LexCath, Highlands, South Oldham, Carmel (IN), Bethlehem, Lakota East (OH), Assumption Assumption returns much of a very balanced offense and will not be a pushover in region play but will need to find a way to keep Sacred Heart from scoring. Ballard would be a contender, but it sounds like Ella Sanchez has gone the club route to pursue her road to the pros, significantly affecting the Bruins. 8th Region South Oldham lost 8 seniors to graduation but return a significant portion of their goal scorers, as well as their starting GK. Coming off a state runner-up season, the Lady Dragons will look to continue that momentum into the new season, but face a gauntlet of a schedule, facing many schools on this list. The only question will be: can their legs hold out? Key games- Highlands, Notre Dame, Sacred Heart, Bethlehem, Bowling Green, Assumption North Oldham only graduated one senior and return the talented trio of Frazee, Ebner, and Smith. Questions may be asked of the Lady Mustangs as the schedule might not prepare them well for the postseason. Simon Kenton is likely to be on of the more intriguing teams this season under the guide of a new coach. The Lady Pioneers lost goal production but return the entirety of their defense. 9th Region Likely coming as no surprise, Notre Dame is still the team to beat. To paraphrase an apt cliché, NDA is not rebuilding following graduation, they are reloading. The Pandas will be led by Clark, Greenwell, and Unkraut, but it is a struggle to find a weak position anywhere on the field. As always, the schedule will be challenging, likely preparing NDA for a strong postseason. Key games – South Oldham, Assumption, Dixie, Zionville (IN) Invitational, LexCath Cup, Highlands Dixie and Highlands will be chasing NDA. Dixie will be relying on Ashtyn Ivey without graduate senior Grace Gerding, while Highlands will need Laney Smith without Faith Broering around. Cooper, Holy Cross, Conner, and Ryle also should play a role in how this region shakes out. 10th Region Campbell Co. will be looking to repeat as region champions, returning leading scorers Ruby Dunlevy and Jozie Holmes on a team that lost 5 seniors to graduation. The Camels continue of trend of region favorites scheduling difficult games early and often. Two questions for Campbell Co.: Can they go undefeated in the region again? Can they win challenging games outside of their region? Key games- Lafayette, Bethlehem, Dixie, Highlands, Bishop Brossart, Notre Dame Bishop Brossart will be chomping at the bit to return the favor to Campbell Co. following their 3 losses to the Camels last season. Brossart returns a strong team that will also likely challenge for a state All-A title. GRC and Montgomery Co. could challenge in the region, but can they keep up with the firepower of the Campbell Co. and Brossart, only time will tell.

Wanting to building upon the work done by @FrankNicodemus (and grow the coverage of girls soccer), I decided to make region by region predictions for the up coming season. See something I missed? let me know. I am hoping to put it altogether and come up with a state top 15 in the next few days (and update that weekly). 1st Region Marshall Co., coming off winning their 22nd region championship (and currently on a 5-peat), the Lady Marshalls return their three top scorers, as well as their starting GK. It would seem as though it is Marshall Co.’s region to lose, but I am sure McCracken Co. will want to have a say, interestingly Marshall and McCracken do not play each other until the very end of the season. Key games - Sacred Heart, South Oldham, Owensboro Catholic, Greenwood McCracken Co. and Graves Co. each lost significant portions of their starting lineups, so they will both likely be playing catch-up to the Lady Marshalls. 2nd Region Henderson Co. are back following a run to the Final Four. The Lady Colonels return much of their starting lineup and look poised to make a run at repeating as region champions. Ashton Lynam will be a key portion of the attack for Henderson Co. and the Lady Colonels will likely need her to if they are to make another trek into the latter stages of the KHSAA tournament. Key games – Evansville Reitz (IN), Marshall Co., Evansville North (IN), Owensboro Catholic Madisonville – North Hopkins could challenge Henderson Co. but will only be able to do so if they find ways to replace 100-point scorer Camryn LaGrange, who is playing at WKU this fall. 3rd Region Owensboro Catholic will look to rebound after falling to Ohio Co. in the Region Finals last season. The Lady Aces will depend on Madeline Hayden’s success to make a run late into the postseason. Perhaps a post-season run can be supported by a deep run into the All-A, but O-Cath’s legs will have to be able to keep them going into late October. Key games – Evansville Mater Dei (IN), Bowling Green, Greenwood, State All-A As the reigning region champs, Ohio Co. will need someone to step up and fill the void that Carly Embry leaves behind, if they are going to challenge O-Cath. 4th Region Bowling Green will be looking to repeat as region champions after ending Greenwood’s 4-year reign last season. The Purples return much of their balanced attack and defense, putting them in the top spot to start the season. Last season’s challenging schedule prepared the Purples for postseason and the schedule will need to do so again. Key games – South Oldham, Greenwood, Elizabethtown Greenwood will need to once again have a balanced, sustained attack to get back to the top of the region. That said, the Gators are not far behind, and BG should not get too comfortable. 5th Region Bethlehem will look to avenge a region final loss to Bardstown. The Banshees only lost one senior to graduation while returning 60-goal scorer, Carlie Thurmond. Simply put, Bethlehem looks loaded and primed for a postseason run. It is safe to assume that the Banshees have more than an All-A title in mind. Key games- LexCath, South Oldham, Elizabethtown, Greenwood Bardstown lost 7 seniors to graduation, and many goals with them, so the Lady Tigers will need to find some goal production to challenge Bethlehem. Elizabethtown only graduated one senior but will need to work through the bumps that come with a new coach and quiet preseason.

Simon Kenton went 2-0-1. A controlled 5-2 win against Lexington Christian that was 4-0 deep into the second half, when subs were being made almost hockey style. A 1-0, heat-shortened, win against Henry Clay on field that would make St. Henry and NCC proud. Last game was a 0-0 draw against Lafayette, SK had plenty of shots, just could not find the back of the net.