LONDON — Kayla Bargo’s North Laurel Lady Jaguars are two wins away from capturing the girls’ soccer program’s first-ever state championship.
They’ll travel to Paul Laurence Dunbar on Wednesday and face-off against Lexington Catholic in the nightcap of the Final Four.
The Lady Jaguars (13-3) will once again enter the game as underdogs, but that doesn’t seem to bother them at all.
North Laurel played the underdog role during its first two matches of the state tournament and ended up rolling past Johnson Central (3-0), and Boyd County (1-0).
The Lady Jaguars entered the Wednesday’s match riding a season-best six-game win streak along with a .59475 RPI rating while the Lady Knights (21-2-4) are winners of seven straight while posting a 17-0-2 record during their last 19 games. Their last loss was way back in Aug. 31st against Indiana’s Westfield High School.
Lexington Catholic’s only loss to a in-state team came on Aug. 16 against state tournament favorite Sacred Heart, who won 5-0. The Lady Knights possess a .66379 RPI.
Lexington Catholic has allowed only 14 goals this season. The Lady Knights are led by Izzy Skinner’s 17 goals. She also has six assists. Joanna Bryant has 11 goals and five assists while Sara-Kate Barnes has 10 goals and a team-best 10 assists. Overall, 13 different players have scored at least one goal this season for Lexington Catholic.
Haley Combs leads North Laurel with 18 goals while Lauren Crouch has 14, and Presley Thompson (12 goals), Annabelle Welch (10 goals), McKinley Mastin (seven goals), Sarah Watkins (two goals), and Blakelea Shaw (one goal) follows.
Keeper Brooklyn Mullins is coming off one of her best efforts of her career, has only allowed 18 goals while accumulating 90 saves. She has six shutouts this season.
