What decided the latest 36th District girls soccer championship?

Allen Ramsey Photo. Highlands midfielder Kiersten Clukey (left) and Newport Central Catholic's Jenna Ahlbrand (right) battle for the ball near midfield in Wednesday's 36th District championship game. Highlands won 1-0 on penalty kicks.

Allen Ramsey Photo. Highlands junior Kylie Schuerman (9) watches the game-winning penalty kick while Newport Central Catholic goalkeeper Meg Martin (00) gets in position. The Ladybirds have won eight district championships in the last nine seasons.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It was only fitting this one went to penalty kicks.

The rival Highlands Ladybirds and Newport Central Catholic Lady Bred soccer teams had to do that after neither team put one home in either the 80 minutes of regulation or the two five-minute overtime periods. Highlands won the penalty kicks, 4-2 for a 1-0 victory Wednesday in the 36th District championship.

This marks the eighth district title in nine seasons for the Ladybirds. Highlands and Newport Central Catholic have met in three straight realigned 36th District championships after playing in the old 19th District for years with Bishop Brossart and Campbell County. The only time Highlands has not won a district title since 2005 is 2012 when Newport Central Catholic won it.

“Kevin (Turnick) does a great job keeping his defense organized,” said Brian Wiefering, Highlands Head Coach. “I felt they were starting to pack it in. It was tough to break that line. We had a few opportunities where we didn’t finish. Our team stayed organized defensively more than we had all year.”

The only difference between this year and the last two years is Dayton also participated in the tournament. Highlands beat Dayton, 10-0 Monday in the district semifinals to make it to the championship game. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association put teams in districts similar to basketball because more schools have soccer teams.

NewCath (13-5-1 overall) beat Highlands (11-9-1), 2-1 on Sept. 12 to earn the top seed in the district tournament. The Lady Breds also won the regular season meeting last year before the Ladybirds claimed the district championship by 2-1 scores.

“Both teams left chances on the field throughout the game,” Turnick said. “We let those chances go by and we didn’t capitalize. A winner had to be done so it went to (penalty kicks). It’s not a great way to win or lose. We’d rather see someone win it with a goal on the field.”

Highlands turned it around after a 3-8 start to the year. Wiefering is in his first year as head coach.

“(The midfilders) stepped up and played with intensity,” said Lydia Graves, Highlands senior defender. “We were winning balls out of the air just controlling the ball most of the time. We need to continue that in the region games.”

Highlands often plays freshman Olivia McQueary at goalkeeper in the first half and sophomore Shannon Eaton in the second. The Ladybirds put McQueary out there on the penalty kicks.

“We play together and as a team,” McQueary said. “Like Coach (Wiefering) said, we want to be an unselfish team and I think we accomplished that (Wednesday). It says something about our character to pull it out.”

Both teams made the first two penalty kicks in the best-of-five battle. Kiersten Clukey and Eaton scored for Highlands with Loren Zimmerman and Michaela Ware scoring for NewCath.

Neither team scored on the third shots. Kayla Nehus put the kick high for Highlands and McQueary blocked Jenna Ahlbrand’s shot.

Senior Lydia Graves stepped forward and scored in the right corner for Highlands. McQueary then came through again blocking Taylor Tolle’s shot.

That put Highlands in a good position on the last shot. Junior Kylie Schuerman put the ball in the right corner to win the game for the Ladybirds.

“I was worried, but I knew the team had it,” Schuerman said. “This team is amazing. I couldn’t ask for a better team. It honestly brings tears to my eyes. Everyone worked incredibly hard.”

Both teams had their chances in regulation. Highlands outshot NewCath just 13-12 including 7-6 on goal. McQueary had two saves and Eaton four for Highlands with Martin making six for NewCath.

Ansley Davenport had a free kick just outside the attacking box with 6:24 left in the game. But Eaton stopped it.

In the final minutes of the second overtime, the leading goal-scorer for the Ladybirds in senior Taylor Vaughn had a great look. But her shot went just wide left into the outside net.

Highlands focused on keeping the ball away from Zimmerman. Zimmerman hurt the Ladybirds with a long throw-in that turned into a goal during the regular season.

“When you spend 30 minutes of practice in pouring down rain worrying about Loren Zimmerman and her throw-ins, that means she’s a very good player,” Weifering said. “That’s what we did. I sat at the out-of-bounds line. I can’t throw it as far as Loren Zimmerman. I had to actually punt it to let the girls time it and get their head on it and clear out. I thought we did a good job as a team.”

The regional tournaments begin Monday with the draw taking place over the weekend. Highlands will play host to a region quarterfinal on Monday and NewCath will hit the road.

“Highlands is a very good team,” Turnick said. “There’s no doubt about that. We played well. They played well. Both teams need to continue to play and make runs off that. We have to bounce back from the loss, but I’m confident we can make a good run in the region.”

Both teams lost to eventual state champion Notre Dame in the 9th Region Tournament last year. Highlands lost to the Pandas in the title game and NewCath lost to them in the semifinals.