Veteran Bardstown Tigers coach Martin Bodkin jokes Kindsay Riney should be a more prolific player than she is.

Forrest Berkshire

 

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But when her coach needed her the most Monday night, the junior forward gladly obliged.

Riney scored both of her team’s goals, including a dagger of a breakaway with less than six minutes remaining, to lift the 19th District Tournament runners-up past Central Hardin, 2-0 in the Girls’ 5th Region Soccer Tournament’s late quarterfinal in Cecilia.

“Tonight I just tried not to be as nervous as usual,” Riney said. “I was looking for the corners instead of trying to drill it.”

Central Hardin (9-8-3), the two-time defending region champion who has eliminated Bardstown (13-5-1) from the postseason the past three years, earned a 1-0 home win Sept. 24 against Bardstown as sophomore Rachel Mobley scored off an assist from junior Mia Wiersema.

Bardstown senior keeper Mallory Greer said it was important for the Tigers to know where Central Hardin’s top weapons — such as Wiersema (seven goals, four assists), Mobley (five, three) and seniors Olivia Thompson (two, six) and Haley Ennis (nine, one) — were at all times.

“All we did was talk in the back and tell them where to be and where to go,” said Greer, who made eight saves. “We had to make sure everyone was marked up.”

That worked as the Bruins struggled to get in a rhythm. Their best chance might have been in the final 20 minutes as the Bruins appeared to have a breakaway, but the offside flag on the far sideline was up before Greer even made a move to the ball. Central Hardin’s coaching staff was yellow-carded soon afterward.

Meanwhile, Riney was rocking and rolling offensively.

She broke open the scoreless affair with 26-:04 left in the match when speedy senior Karis Rogers drove into the right side of the Bruins’ box and slotted the ball on the ground over to an unmarked Riney, who tucked it away easily.

“Her and Karis are a good combo up top,” sixth-year Central Hardin coach Hal Bender said of Riney. “They know where each other is going to be.”

With time waning down, Central Hardin tried to make a push, even pulling NCAA Division-I verbal commitment Savannah Haberman out of the net to play midfield.

“A one-goal or two-goal loss didn’t matter. A loss is a loss,” Bender said.

The Tigers took their commanding two-goal lead with just 5:31 remaining, all but burying the Bruins as junior defender Jacey Welther played a long through ball up to Riney. Riney was able to use a cutback move to get past the last defender and drew Central Hardin sophomore reserve keeper Mikayla Durrance out of the net before tucking it away.

While Greer was smiling after the first goal, she said the second one was huge.

“I was like, ‘All right. We’ve got this now,’” Greer said. “’We’ve got this.’”

Bardstown, making its fourth straight region appearance and seven in the last eight years, ended a nine-game, five-year losing streak against Central Hardin. It hopes to continue its momentum at 8 p.m. tonight in the late semifinal against the 18th District Tournament champion Marion County Knights (6-11), who earned a first-round bye in Friday’s draw.

 The Bardstown-Marion County winner will meet the winner of tonight’s 6 p.m. semifinal between Elizabethtown and Nelson County for the title at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“We’re disappointed we didn’t win the district title,” said Bodkin, who has won more than 115 games in 10 seasons with the Lady Tigers. “We came out this week with something to prove. This was the first step.”