Sacred Heart vs. Assumption rematch set: Girls soccer powers to play for 7th Region title
The brisk air and cloudy skies at Eastern High School were a serene backdrop as Sacred Heart’s 5-1 drubbing of Manual and Assumption’s 3-1 win over Ballard set up a Seventh Regional girls soccer final featuring the Valkyries and Rockets.
Junior striker Lilly Lund helped secure Sacred Heart’s appearance with a hat trick while sophomore striker Mia Lancaster enjoyed a two-goal outing of her own Monday night en route to the Valkyries’ 10th region final in the last 11 years.
“It’s just another step in the process,” Sacred Heart head coach Shaun Francis said. “We have a bigger goal — our main goal is to win state. We have to make sure we take care of business first, one game at a time. We’re going to enjoy the win, we’ll get back to focus tomorrow because we have another one on Wednesday.”
Wednesday’s Seventh Region final is set for 7 p.m. at Eastern.
Sacred Heart had won nine straight Seventh Region titles before Assumption snapped its streak last season when the two powerhouse programs met in a region semifinal game.
From kickoff of Monday’s first semifinal at Eastern, Sacred Heart dominated time of possession and pressured Manual’s defense with seven shots on goal and a pair of first-half goals from Lund and Lancaster.
Manual was more physical in the second half as it fought harder to gain control of the ball and stop Sacred Heart’s lethal attack. The spirited effort allowed the Crimsons to put their footprint on a game they could’ve mailed in after Lancaster’s second goal of the day early in the second half.
But Lund — scoring two more late goals in the second half, the last coming with five seconds left — shut the door on Manual’s comeback bid.
“We had five seconds left, I just looked up and took my chance,” Lund said laughing sheepishly and shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know if I meant to go in the goal but it happened.”
The Rockets’ second straight appearance in the Seventh Region final was fueled by a team approach. Lola Pate, Josie McCrae and Ella Raider contributed one goal apiece with McRae and Raider knocking in back-to-back goals that secured Assumptions’ postseason rematch with Sacred Heart.
McCrae, in discussing the rivalry with the Valkyries, noted that playing against Sacred Heart has always been a huge game and said she was “stoked” her goal broke the 1-1 tie early in the second half of Monday’s second semifinal at Eastern to help Assumption reach Wednesday's region final.
“It’s always really even,” McCrae said of the rivalry between the two programs, which met two weeks ago and played to a 1-1 tie. “It’s more mental for us because our teams are so evenly matched that we need to just focus on our mental preparation to just make sure we’re in the right headspace going into the game so we can get the job done.”
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This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA soccer scoreboard: Assumption vs. Sacred Heart Academy rematch
