It will be the biggest challenge of the season Saturday afternoon for Madisonville-North Hopkins. The Lady Maroons will be hosting top-ranked Sacred Heart in the quarterfinal round of the girls’ state soccer tournament.
At stake is a berth in the semifinals next Wednesday at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington.
The Valkyries entered the postseason with the highest RPI rating in the state at .69436. The Lady Maroons were ranked #45 with a rating of .58045.
However, it must be noted that Bowling Green entered the postseason ranked #6 at .66934. The Lady Purples will be sitting at home this weekend after the Lady Maroons sent them home for the winter with a 2-1 win Tuesday night.
Sacred Heart is 21-1-2 heading into Saturday’s match. Their only loss was to Ursula Academy, of Cincinnati. The draws came against Elizabethtown and Notre Dame in the first two weeks of the season. The Valkyries defeated E-town 6-1 in their opening round match.
Sacred Heart is led by senior Caitlin Chase, who has scored 34 goals this season. She also has five assists. The Valkyries have four other players, Lilly Lund, Ava Hendrick, Nora Dimmitt, and Avery Krupp, who have scored at least 10 goals.
Keepers Amira Kendrick and Molly Baldwin have combined to allow just 9 goals during the season. No team has scored more than one goal against Sacred Heart.
The Lady Maroons (15-6-1) are led by Madison Hill, who has scored 44 goals. Kailey Barber has 16 and McKinley Wilson 11.
Kaytee Parish has given up just 29 goals and has 8 shutouts for the season in goal.
The two teams last meet in 2014 in the state quarterfinals with Sacred Heart taking a 7-0 win.
Madisonville-North Hopkins and Sacred Heart are scheduled for a 4pm start Saturday.
