After Defeat Lady Chargers Celebrate Seniors And Make A Comeback
Surrounded by family while her favorite memory and advice to younger teammates was being read off, senior Brookelynne Montague stood surrounded by family during the senior night ceremony. All of the seniors were lined up as they were recognized one by one. “It felt so unreal to be standing there in front of my teammates, classmates, family, and friends as we were being called one by one to be recognized. I guess you could say it truly was a bittersweet night,” said Montague.
A whole mix of feelings.
From losing, to a victory, to a bittersweet night, the Lady Chargers have had all sorts of emotions this week.
Sept. 16 the Lady Chargers had their first loss of the season when they played against South Oldham. Using the loss as a lesson, the girls made a comeback and defeated Whitefield the following day. Before winning against Bullitt Central, the senior Lady Chargers were recognized during the senior night ceremony.
After starting off with a perfect season, the Lady Chargers lost against South Oldham with the final score of 0-2. “I think we lost to South Oldham because they were just faster and had better footwork than us. This showed us that we need to possess the ball as much as possible and play together for us to keep winning games,” said senior Chloe Holt.
Using their defeat as a lesson, the Lady Chargers made a comeback when they played against Whitefield. The girls won 10-0 with goals by seniors Emily Ezell, Sarah Ezell, Holt, Tayler Mahoney, Emily McDonald, Brookelynne Montague, Ryley Ortega, and junior Alison Shake.
The following night, Sept. 18, the Lady Chargers held a ceremony before their game against Bullitt Central to celebrate and honor their senior players with it being their final season. The seniors lined up on the field surrounded by family as Steve Mahoney, who controls the East Tower and is the father of Tayler Mahoney, read off their favorite memories and advice to their younger teammates.
In previous years, Steve Mahoney played a pre-recording of the quotes from the seniors, but this year the pre-recording malfunctioned during the ceremony. “It was a nightmare and I didn’t have time to mess with the audio connection, so I grabbed a hardcopy of the Senior Night Script and just started reading it live. Since Tayler was one of the captains, I saved her for last, which gave time for both Mike Brangers and assistant coach Amy Gentry to offer to read Tayler’s answers. I rushed downstairs and joined her on the field when it was her turn, but due to the stress of the situation, I really didn’t have time to let my emotions get the best of me,” said Steve Mahoney.
Despite the technical difficulties, the ceremony was still full of emotion for the girls. “It was amazing to see how all the families and friends of all the girls came together to put on an amazing night to celebrate all of my wonderful teammates. And it was a bittersweet experience, I loved getting to see all my family and friends come to support me but it was almost surreal cause I remember doing stuff for senior night when I was young and now it’s weird to think that I am actually a senior and I will soon have to leave a lot of these amazing girls,” said Ortega.
Although it was an emotional night for the seniors, they stayed strong and focused on the positive. “Instead of focusing on the sadness of being seniors, we all shared laughs as we reflected on our seasons and accomplishments. It was a very light-hearted atmosphere because we knew that our senior night wasn’t the last time we’d play with one another,” said Tayler Mahoney.
After the ceremony was over, the girls played against Bullitt Central and won 6-0. Goals were scored by Tayler Mahoney, McDonald, Holt and junior Bailey Chitwood.
The Lady Chargers’ next game will be Sept. 23 at Bardstown, varsity begins at 7 p.m.
