It wasn’t like the Elizabethtown girls soccer program was in a funk or like they had fallen from Region Tournament grace, but after seven years, they had zero Region titles to show. Yes. They were a major power player in the mix, but success spoils you. Eleven trophies starting from 2001 to 2014 was a sign of that and even more a continuous pipeline of talented players which keep passing through. Now, enter Rob Zoeller, who after Pat Black stepped down after the 2021 season, returned to the program he helped put on the map from 2001 to 2005 and then 2007 and 2008. The biggest hurdle was taking a group that he would be coaching for the first time and molding them into a Champion.
Mission accomplished. Elizabethtown won the 5th Region Championship at John Hardin and helped restore some continuity in the Region Universe with a 3-0 win over two time reigning Region Champion Bardstown. Thanks to a couple of goals on set piece formations by Adelyn Inman, the Lady Panthers finally took the lead in the second half and let their defense take over. The same defense which had allowed only two goals against District competition during the regular season and just one in the District playoffs, would throw a blanket over both Bethlehem in the semi-finals and Bardstown in the Championship of the Region tournament.
Afterwards, the Lady Panther players including Inman, Langley Wallace and Noelle Garcia talked at length how quickly things changed this season when Zoeller stressed a stronger defensive stance, strengthened their schedule and slightly reorganized the personnel for a team which hadn’t had a Region trophy celebration or looked forward to extra work after that in preparation for a KHSAA State Playoff game against Marshall County at home Tuesday. “He told us, that we lost the District (Title to Central Hardin), but we can still win the Regions and we did that today.” Said Wallace.
A winning attitude can take a team a long way, but only as far as the guy who can be the mastermind of that program. Zoeller has proven that he can win no matter where he is as his success at Elizabethtown before and recently at Simon Kenton. One thing he would love to do is coach the Lady Panthers in a Final Four game. Something he was done at Simon Kenton (2016), but not at Elizabethtown. What happens this Monday will go a long way to deciding that.
So once again, the 5th Region girls Soccer title still belongs to a smaller school. Between Bethlehem, Bardstown and Elizabethtown, they own 19 of the last 22-Region titles and if what happened last week is any indication, that may not change anytime soon
