Soccer

West Jessamine's Cliff Evans is heading to Asbury University in the fall. The senior signed a letter of intent to play soccer for for the Eagles on April 13. “It felt really right going into the program because I've played under the coaches before and I loved the team because I've played with a lot of them in the past,” Evans said. Even some of the players Evans hasn't plated with he's at least competed against before. “I'm really excited to get back in that group,” he said.

Five sets of sisters participated in the annual alumni soccer game Thursday evening at George Rogers Clark High School. Pictured, from left, are Kendall and Sarah Warner, Hayden and Taylor Warren, Haleigh and Callie Shelley, Kelly and Kaitlin Boldt and Whitney and Hillary Osborne. Kendall, Hayden, Taylor, Haleigh, Kelly and Hillary are all GRC alumni and Sarah, Callie and Whitney are current GRC athletes.

East Jessamine's Jacob Riekert went to the next level last week, signing a national letter of intent to play soccer at Saint Catharine College in Bardstown. “I just really like the college and the people on the team,” Riekert said. “I thought it was a really good fit for me compared to other colleges I looked at; the program's going somewhere good.” Saint Catharine men's soccer coach Tim Wolz said he was impressed with the midfielder's discipline. “He's got good size; he's got good strength; he knows the game,” Wolz said.

The Centre College women’s soccer team led by five goals at the half and rolled to an 8-1 win over visiting Asbury on Wednesday. Brittany Garr scored two goals, and six other players scored for Centre (1-1), which outshot Asbury (0-1) 26-2. Chelsea Stanley scored 2 minutes, 18 seconds into the match off a pass from Kelsey Boling. Boling scored 11 minutes later and Garr got her first goal with 18:03 gone in the first half off an assist from Christina Giles for a 3-0 lead. Chloe Tooey and Morgan Collins rounded out the first-half scoring as the Colonels led 5-0. In the second half, Boyle County graduate Sarah hall assisted on Garr’s second goal, then Meredith Ranney and Aubrey Holle finished off the scoring for Centre.

West Jessamine's Daniel Rehner will head to Asbury College to pursue soccer in the fall. "My dad went there and I thought it would be nice to go there too," said Rehner, who finished second at the state track and field meet in the pole vault last Saturday. "They might actually have a track team soon, and I'll play soccer. " Rehner will major in engineering, splitting his time in Wilmore with University of Kentucky. "A goal is to play more, there are a lot of guys there," he said.

East Jessamine soccer player Victoria Slade has decided to continue her soccer career at Southern Virginia University. “I really liked the small atmosphere and the closeness of the team,” Slade said. The senior midfielder signed with the Knights last week. During her senior season, Slade dished out 12 assists and scored 11 goals. She finished her career at East with 22 goals and 16 assists. “Victoria has always done everything we've asked of her. She's grown as much in four years as any player that I've ever coached,” East coach DeAngelo Wiser said.

The Boyle County girls soccer team moved to 3-0 Saturday, holding off visiting Boone County 2-1. Lauren Paynter scored both goals for the Rebels, and was assisted on both by Kennedy Collier. "It was a very hard-fought game, a very physical game between both teams," Boyle coach Brian Deem said. "Boone County is always a strong team that plays physical soccer. " Paynter scored at the 6:58 mark off a pass from Collier, but Boone (2-1) managed to tie the score at 1-1 by halftime.

BOYS 15th Region Tournament At Somerset Tuesday, Oct. 17 First Round Southwestern (11-5-3) vs. Danville (19-3), 6 p.m. Marion County (9-8) vs. Somerset (16-2-3), 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 Championship Tuesday's winners, 7 p.m. GIRLS 15th Region Tournament At Danville Monday, Oct. 16 First Round Somerset (13-6-1) vs. Danville (16-5-1), 6 p.m. Boyle County (16-3)

The Danville girls soccer team had to wait one more day for its biggest game yet, as its sectional championship game at Woodford County was postponed until today. The game for a spot in the state tournament was to be played at 2 p.m. today in Versailles after Woodford officials postponed it Monday, citing an unplayable field. Danville coach Matt Lauer said Woodford officials told him their Community Stadium field was unplayable and the game would be moved to another field in the same park complex.

Landon Souder says it wasn't all about him. Souder was at the heart of two monumental athletic achievements at Mercer County during the past school year, making for a memorable senior year in both of his sports. He was the star of the Mercer boys soccer team that won its first regional championship, and he was part of a relay team that won a state track and field championship. And he said in both cases, being part of a team made the experience better. “Looking back, I won't have any regrets.

The George Rogers Clark boys soccer program didn't look far for a new coach. Albert Gross an assistant coach at Transylvania University during the past six years, was named coach during a press conference Monday afternoon at the school. Gross spent the past six seasons as an assistant coach at Transylvania. Gross also played at Transy, where he was a captain for three seasons and All-Great Lakes Region pick as a senior and a three-time All-Heartland Conference defensive performer.

West Jessamine Middle Schools' girls' soccer team defeated Mercer County on Monday, May 13, to win the Salt River Conference championship. The Lady Colts topped the Lady Titans by a score of 4-0. Head coach Kevin Wright and his team lost only once this season, finishing with a 17-1-1 record.    

The Conkwright Middle School girls soccer team capped a successful season by defeating Woodford County 1-0 in the finals of the Bluegrass Conference Tournament last week. After losing 2-0 at Woodford County in the first game of the season, the team went on to win the next 11 games, scoring 32 goals without conceding any scores. Hannah Smith, Haley Hannan and Shannon Ramey were the top scorers but 12 different players managed to get on the scoresheet and the whole squad of 24 players played their part throughout the season.

West Jessamine girls' soccer coach Kevin Wright is giving local youth an opportunity to learn the game just as his several championship clubs have throughout the years. On June 10-13 and/or June 17-20 (6-8 p.m.), Wright is hosting the Tough As Nails soccer camp for inviduals and teams consisting of boys and girls ages 4-14. The camp will be held at the Southland Christian Church soccer field on the Harrodsburg Road Campus. “I just like to see the development of soccer in Jessamine County and the surrounding counties,” Wright said.

George Rogers Clark senior Connor Blankenship signed a national letter-of-intent to play soccer at Kentucky Christian University Thursday at the school. Pictured from row from left: Mom Terri Blankenship, Connor Blankenship and youth minister Steve Crosby. Back row, Clark County Schools athletics director Ryan Nolan and Kentucky Christian University soccer coach Jeremy Miller.

Four Danville soccer players made their college choices official Friday, and a fifth was recognized for singing earlier this year during a ceremony in the Danville High Library. Alexa Burks (Transylvania), Shawn Ramos (Berea), Dylan Mullins (Berea) and Christian Gateskill-Fuqua (Centre) all signed Friday, while Matt Oster (Georgetown) signed earlier this year. Burks, a defender, said she has looked at Kentucky and Samford University just for school, but knew she wanted to keep playing soccer in college and Transylvania gave her everything she wanted.

Danville's Samantha Sadidge and Boyle County's Chelsea Gill and Hannah Harris recently signed to play college soccer at Campbellsville University.

East Jessamine soccer's Makensie Danaher opted for a route not often taken by her fellow Jaguars when she sat down for her signing ceremony Wednesday. Danaher, wanting to grow with a program, signed her name to a letter of intent for Flagler College, based in St. Augustine, Fla., after having discussed her plans with her parents, Joe and Rita. “(Flagler coaches) had a lot of pride in their program,” Danaher said. “It's kind of up and coming, and I don't want to go to a program that's solidly built.