RUN IT BACK: Boyle County and West Jessamine advance to regional finals

Photo by Jacob Pratt: West Jessamine sophomore Preslie Houp (23) begins to celebrate after scoring what was the game-winning goal in the Colts' 8-0 victory over Somerset in the 12th Region Tournament semifinals on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.

SOMERSET - The 12th Region Girls' Soccer Tournament Semifinals were held on Thursday, with games between Boyle County and Southwestern, as well as West Jessamine and Somerset, deciding who would get to advance on to Saturday afternoon's regional title tilt. Would it be an all-crosstown final between the Warriors and Jumpers, or could Boyle and West advance to make it a rematch from last year's stellar championship game?

Turns out, both games were blowouts as the Colts and Lady Rebels set themselves up for a rematch of epic proportions on Saturday, as they rather easily dispatched of the Jumpers and Warriors respectively.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Boyle County senior Maggie Gnann (5) and Southwestern sophomore Clare Marie Ramsey (12) collide while going for the ball during the Rebels' 7-0 victory over the Warriors on Thursday.

With their meeting to end the regular season ending in a 0-0 draw, fans of defense were certainly intrigued heading into the first contest of the night between Southwestern and Boyle County. If you were expecting a ton of defense in this one, you got that, but you also got a ton of scoring, at least for the Lady Rebels. Boyle largely dominated the flow of the game and by the end of the 80 minutes, the Rebels had secured their spot in the championship game with a 7-0 victory.

Boyle had the first close attempt in the fourth minute, before Reagan Britt's shot in the sixth minute was deflected away. A shot from Maggie Gnann in the seventh minute was just over, with Southwestern's Lilly Nelson lurking for a shot two minutes later that just narrowly missed its mark. In the 11th minute, Shayla Jones, the freshman sensation for the Warriors, had a look that just barely missed sneaking into the back of the net. It wasn't until the 12th minute that a goal was scored, as Claire Combs, another great freshman, had a breakaway that resulted in a shot that sailed into the left side of the goal for a 1-0 Boyle County lead.

A shot from Destiny Sadler went wide in the 14th minute as the Warriors just couldn't find any sort of flow on the offensive end. Ansley Mounce had another great look in the 17th minute, but her shot just went wide of its target. Boyle added to their lead in the 19th minute, as Britt's bending kick went into the right side of the net for a 2-0 lead. Southwestern senior goalkeeper Jaycee Daulton had two beautiful saves in the 19th and 23rd minutes as she seemed to be fully locked in.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Southwestern freshman Shayla Jones reacts after narrowly missing a shot during the Warriors' contest against Boyle County on Thursday evening.

Sadler had another close attempt in the 26th minute, but it too was off. Ellery Taylor added goal number three for the Rebels a minute later, as her shot went right past the goalkeeper for the score. Boyle County was able to add one more before the half on a quick shot from Gnann, as they took a 4-0 lead into the break that at this point, seemed insurmountable.

A shot from Combs in the 43rd minute was dangerously close to being goal number five, but it bounced off the top crossbar. Gnann got her second goal in the 47th minute, as she had a wide-open shot following a corner for a 5-0 lead.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Southwestern senior Destiny Sadler (3) trails Boyle County senior Kennedy Bugg (right) while trying to get possession of the ball during the contest between the Warriors and the Lady Rebels on Thursday.

The senior earned her hat trick in the 61st minute, as she followed up a header attempt that nailed the top crossbar to put her team up 6-0 and very close to a mercy rule win. Boyle was able to add one more score in the 70th minute on a shot from Maggie Burke past a diving goalkeeper. Southwestern's Isabella Denney had a shot in the 77th minute that went wide, but that was the last goal opportunity for the Warriors as they soon fell victim to the shutout 7-0.

Boyle improves to 16-6-2 and will play for their second-straight region title on Saturday.

Southwestern's season concludes with a record of 17-4-2. Best of luck to seniors Chloe Brotherton, Jaycee Daulton, Isabella Denney, Jessalyn Flynn, Austyn Hansen, Cadie Layne, Ansley Mounce, Tatyana Peters and Destiny Sadler on all of their future endeavors.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: Somerset senior Tori Robertson (right) attempts to make it around the defense of West Jessamine junior Jenna Pearman (14) during the Jumpers' 8-0 loss to the Colts on Thursday night.

Game two of the evening saw the Somerset Lady Jumpers, the hosting team of the tournament, take on powerhouse West Jessamine in a rematch of a semifinal from last year's tournament and the championship game two years ago. Could the Jumpers do the unthinkable and finally knock off the Colts?

That is what the Jumpers hoped for at least, but it wasn't the end result fans at Clara Morrow Field seen on the field, as West Jessamine dominated every facet of the game en route to an 8-0 mercy rule victory at the half. Somerset's head coach Ben Robertson gave props to the Colts following the game.

"West Jessamine is truly a different class of team. Our girls have been great all season, but the reality is in soccer and life you are going to come up against people that are better than you, and that is what happened tonight," he explained.

Isabella McKenzie got a close attempt at the net within the first minute of the contest before a shot from Joanna Tucker was wide in the fifth. The first attempt from the leading goal scorer in the state Tori Robertson came in the sixth minute, but her free kick was saved by freshman goalkeeper Sophie Bolton. West got on the board early in the ninth minute, as Tucker was near the goal and found an opening into the left side of the net for a 1-0 Colts lead.

Robertson had another shot in the same minute that was saved before Tucker quickly grabbed her second goal on a nearly identical play a minute later for a 2-0 lead. The Colts continued to pour it on just a minute later, as Kami McKibben's shot sailed into the top part of the net to make it 3-0 in favor of the visitors. Kylie Marcum became the third Colt to score in the 15th minute, as her shot went into the left side of the net for a 4-0 West Jessamine lead to start to put this one in the verge of blowout territory early on.

Goal number five of the night was scored in the 16th minute, as Addison Thompson's sliding shot connected with the back of the net. Somerset at this point switched out to Caitlyn Sears in net, with the freshman recording a few saves as the Colts' shots were starting to miss their mark. After a scoreless 10 minutes of action, West increased their lead to 6-0 when Nola Marcum became the fifth different player to score on a bending kick into the left side of the net.

Photo by Jacob Pratt: West Jessamine junior Joanna Tucker (10) gets tripped up by Somerset sophomore Storey Justice (11) during the game between the Colts and the Lady Jumpers on Thursday.

A free kick from Madison Andrews in the 29th minute just narrowly missed its target. McKenzie had a great deflection on the defensive end that led to a charge down the field by the Jumpers, although both Robertson and McKenzie would end up missing a pair of shots. Tucker got her hat trick in the 37th minute, after her shot bounced off the goalkeeper's glove for a 7-0 lead for the Colts. Could they get to eight to trigger the mercy rule at the half?

Why, yes they could, as although Tucker missed an opportunity for a fourth goal, Preslie Houp ended up putting the game-winning goal in the back of the net on a header following a corner in the 39th minute. Just a few moments remained and the Colts celebrated an 8-0 mercy rule over the hosting Jumpers, bringing an end to a legendary group of senior for Somerset, with coach Robertson putting a bow on their careers following the game.

"I truly feel like the luckiest soccer parent around to get to be on the sidelines to watch Tori play and coach her. From now she goes on to Cumberlands and she is in the driving seat and I'm looking forward to seeing what she does at the next level. This group of seniors bleeds purple and gold and I'm thankful to have been their coach," he emotionally expounded.

West Jessamine improves to 6-8-3 and will play Boyle County in the 12th Region Championship game on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Clara Morrow Field.

Somerset finishes their season with a record of 15-7-1. Best of luck to seniors Aijah Carrender, Arianna Childrey, Bella Gregory, Ella Latavong, Isabella McKenzie, Tara Mink, Tori Robertson and Evie Thompson on all of their future endeavors.

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