The Highlands girls’ varsity team defeats Boyle County 2-1 in the first round of the state tournament on Oct. 21. Boyle County was previously undefeated in their season with a record of 24-0-1 with 24 wins, no losses, and one tie. The goals were scored by Gabby Simon (11) and a game-winner scored by Macy Hargis (12).
Going into a game like Boyle County is stressful because starting off the state tournament by playing a team that is undefeated can stir up a lot of nerves. Going into this game, coming off of winning the region championship against Notre Dame, it is fun to prove the whole region and state wrong.
“I was really nervous going into the game, but I was mainly excited because we won regionals and no one thought we could do it, and then we got to the first round of state, which was mainly exciting. And looking at Boyle’s record and the games that they had won, we knew that they had only faced competition that wasn’t very good, so they weren’t ready to face us,” said Simon.
Scoring in a game like this can be exciting, especially when it ties the game back up after getting scored on.
“I didn’t really process it. I just kind of got out of the goal, and then I was like, ‘Let’s get another one.’ I was excited, but I wasn’t thinking about it; I was just thinking about how we needed another one, because we were only tied,” said Simon.
Scoring the game winner to clinch the team’s spot in the Elite 8 is a huge deal, especially if the game plan was executed perfectly to get the goal.
“My whole game plan throughout the entire game was to just stay as wide as I couldn’t find the opportunity when the ball got switched because we saw on film that their defense tends to shift towards the front post, so when the moment came, I made sure to keep it low and place it well,” Hargis said.
It is overwhelming after scoring in a big game like that, and sometimes it makes players’ minds go blank with excitement.
“After I scored, I didn’t really know what to do, so I started jumping up and down, and then the rest of the team came over to celebrate with me,” Hargis said.
This win was huge for the girls’ soccer team because in the past, they struggled getting past the first round, and the last time they made it past the first round was in 2019.
“This season has been a really up-and-down season for us, so it means so much, especially since we keep proving so many people wrong and proving ourselves as a team, making it to the second round of state, which we haven’t done since 2019, and we were the ones to do it,” said Simon.
Going into the next round against Johnson Central means more because, as teams advance in the tournament, the competition only gets harder, so the team will have to be ready.
“I think we’re going to go into the game with an open mind, obviously, after beating Boyle, I think our confidence is really high, but we also need to remember that this is the Elite Eight, and no team moving forward is going to be easy. So we need to go into it the same way we went into Boyle,” Hargis said.
This win is a huge accomplishment for the girls’ varsity soccer team because they have the chance to do something amazing after having a questionable start to the season. They play on Saturday, Oct. 25, against Johnson Central and have the chance to repeat the celebration.
