Repeating is always hard to do.
No matter what sport, there are always issues and outside forces that try to prevent that.
That’s what Martin Bodkin and his Bardstown Girls Soccer team had to deal with as they tried to repeat as reigning 5th Region champions. Losing a talented senior class from the previous year and another player, who transferred would make things difficult.
Bodkin had said after winning his first Region title that he had plenty of youngsters coming up ready to challenge.
However, things didn’t go well early as the Lady Tigers struggled to find their defined roles with superstar scorer Emma Livingston gone and another young emerging talent Whitney Rogers gone as well, they lost their season opener to Elizabethtown before rolling off six straight wins.
Then it happened again.
Three straight losses to Louisville Private school powers Sacred Heart and Assumption and then their first loss to area rival Bethlehem in six games started to resurface some issues. After a loss to Nelson County and then South Oldham, Bardstown finished on a high note and then the District Tournament presented the first signs that the team was finally starting to come around as they survived a semi-final Double Overtime win over Nelson County.
Up next was Bethlehem and the Banshees couldn’t wait to see the Lady Tigers again. A tight defensive struggle went to a shootout and an eventual loss in the 19th district championship. Bodkin’s team had come a long way, but they still had some work to get done and the 5th Region Championship was a perfect place to start.
A 10-0 win over Taylor County was highlighted by double goals from Perry Hagan, Tate Blincoe, Kadence and Rowan Walls. Freshman Goalkeeper Emily Clements and the defense threw a shutout and the team was rolling into the semi-finals against the host team, Elizabethtown.
For those that are unfamiliar with these two teams, some point to the Bardstown Region semi-final win over the Lady Panthers back in 2017 on Molly Bodkin’s goal that helped spring board their move up to the next level. Now, Elizabethtown wanted to return to favor and with Bardstown holding on to a 1-0 lead late in the second half, it appeared like the Lady Tigers were on their way to the final. That was until a direct kick by Kristen Swiney tied it up with 4:00 remaining. The two teams struggled through two overtime periods before a shootout would decide which team would move on.
The Lady Tigers had not won a shoot out (penalty kick) situation since 2018. In fact, very few could forget the shoot out disaster in 2019 against Central Hardin in the 5th Region semi-finals against the Lady Bruins, when they struggled at the line in a loss. Bardstown had just such a situation against Bethlehem the previous week in which they came up short. Yet, here they were against the Lady Panthers burying kick after kick in each win-or-go-home stance until they finally came out on top in a huge victory.
Bardstown would advance to now play the one team which couldn’t wait to face them again. The Banshees had a similar history except they had knocked them off twice back in 2017 and 2018 in Region finals, but that was with Abigail Proctor, Maddie Sparks and the rest of the Banshee “Fab Five” and this group of young and talented Banshees wanted to carve their own history after last year’s difficult loss in the Region Championship.
Once again, it was a hard fought and physical game as the officials let both teams play, but for the first time this year the Lady Tigers struck first with Sophia Sharp’s goal off a nice corner kick move to make it 1-0 Bardstown with 33:38 left in the first half. Just three minutes later, Ashlyn Miles of Bethlehem responded with a left legged jab of her own to even things at one apiece. Bardstown went ahead again with 33:59 left in the second half on Jailyeh Cotton’s drive to retake the lead, but the Banhsees even things up again with 27:44 remaining on a Carlie Thurmond shot on goal. With defense dominating the rest of the way, the game looked like it would reach another extra period situation again and another possible shoot out. It would take something special to change that course and with 10:17 left in regulation, that’s what exactly happened. Midfielder Tate Blincoe had scored just twice last season as a freshman and was an after though during Emma Mattingly’s marvelous senior season. This year however, she was getting more playing team with the graduation of so many scorers. Her 16-goals tied her with Kadence Walls just behind Cotton, but her last shot would be the most memorable. With neither team able to find the net, Blincoe set up for a direct kick near just 40-yards off the left sideline. Her high arching shot picked up plenty of distance and when it reached the goal sailed right over the picket line. Banshee goalkeeper Rebecca Lee made a valiant leap, but the ball picked up just enough speed to beat her attempt at a block. Lee, who had played a marvelous game to this point just barely missed a block and Blincoe’s shot turned out to be the difference maker in a 3-2 win. It was the kind of play which could demoralize the opposing team and set in motion memories in the future of Tate Blincoe and her heavenly kick which would the Lady Tigers and Bodkin their second straight Region Tournament trophy.
Still, Bodkin and the Lady Tigers would not relax until the final gun as Carlie Thurmond had one last shot at a miracle as her booming kick was retrieved by Goalkeeper Emily Clements, who after dropping the ball managed to cover up just before Diana Whittrock came charging in towards the goal.
For Bardstown, their second straight Region title had to feel very sweet. It was achieved with a slightly different group playing either different or more enhanced roles and they came together at just the right time.
Most importantly, they found ways to win games and learned from their previous failures to move on to victory. Martin Bodkin, also learned from the past as he managed to escape for the most part the celebratory Gatorade shower afterwards and took a moment to compliment their fallen opponent (Bethlehem) and look ahead to an even brighter future for these young and talented ladies, who got better at just the right time to do something they had never done before (winning their second straight Region Final).
With Sacred Heart waiting in their future in the State Tournament, the Lady Tigers will take time to enjoy this victory, but just long enough before moving on.
After all, Repeating is Really Hard to Do.
