‘We’ll Come Back Stronger’ — Badin Falls At Summit Country Day In High-Level Season Opener

By Rick Cassano

CINCINNATI – A highly competitive season opener ultimately didn’t include a victory for Badin High School’s girls soccer team.

The Rams are dealing with a host of injuries and couldn’t keep up with Summit Country Day down the stretch Saturday as the host Silver Knights scored three times in the last 13:03 to secure a 4-1 triumph at Williams Field.

“Every game is a test. It’s about how we can learn and apply things to make us better,” Badin coach Chris Slusher said. “I thought we competed very well for the most part, but we definitely didn’t finish. It’s kind of baffling that we didn’t score more than one goal.”

It was a matchup of perennial state contenders that have squared off in the last four season openers. Summit has won three straight state titles (Division II in 2023, Division IV in 2024 and 2025), while the Rams were Division III state runners-up last year.

The last time Badin kicked off the season with a win was 2019.

“It was pretty even throughout the whole game,” Rams junior midfielder Bella McFarland said of Saturday’s clash. “I think we came out with a lot of energy. The effort was there. We were just a little discombobulated. We couldn’t really get our play together between the midfield to the top.

“I feel like we were a little off today, but it’s only the first game. We’ll take it into our training, work on our things and get ready for the season. This is really just a stepping-stone to where we want to go. We’ll come back stronger, that’s for sure.”

McFarland’s knotted the contest at 1-1 on a 22-yard rocket with 12:51 remaining in the first half, but Badin couldn’t get anything else past SCD keeper Caelan Burke (five saves).

Slusher could only shake his head at the number of quality chances the Rams couldn’t finish.

“Some of those opportunities were inches from going in the back of the net,” Slusher said. “We had quite a bit of unluck. I think we hit the crossbar a couple times. We hit the post a couple times. I think we had six 1-on-1s with the goalkeeper and didn’t finish any of them. That’s an early-season stat. Those things happen early on.”

Badin was missing multiple defenders, not a great thing when facing a high-level opponent like Summit, and Slusher said losing holding midfielder Audrey Rhodis to an injury in the second half was a major factor in the Silver Knights’ late flurry of goals.

Lucy Mazes got hurt in the preseason and won’t be able to play this year. Slusher said Danielle Birri, Dalyla French, Caelin Thompson and Rhodis should all return to the field at some point, noting that forward Ava Borg played through an injury Saturday and could also miss some time.

“In about a month our team will be drastically different … in a good way,” Slusher said.

Summit is looking to build on its tradition and hasn’t suffered a loss since falling to William Penn Charter School from Philadelphia on Sept. 8, 2024.

Veteran coach Mike Fee, in his 26th year at the helm, said he’s got a lot of new faces this year, so he was happy to see his Silver Knights take control at crunch time against Badin. And these teams could see each other again in 2026 – SCD has moved up and joined the Rams in Division III.

“We got a lot of opportunities for a lot of young kids who have been biding their time and waiting for those opportunities,” Fee said. “The expectations are we want to push for another state title. It’s very much a new team, but we’ve got a lot of talent and a lot of belief. We’re going to push as hard as we can to make sure that we compete at the end of the season the way we’ve been used to.”

Hailey Holscher opened the scoring for Summit with 15:26 remaining in the opening half. Aubrey Blakely broke the 1-1 deadlock with 13:03 left in the contest, with Abigayle Penote (8:17 left) and Maddy Amend (0:50 left) also adding goals.

Holscher and Emma Gibson collected assists for the Silver Knights. Morgan Byrne had eight saves in goal for BHS.

“We could see right before halftime that our energy was dropping. It was hot out here, and we didn’t go deep on the bench,” Fee said. “We use the term ‘embrace the suffering’ … you heard that a lot in the World Cup.

“We told the girls at halftime that it’s going to be hard and you’ve got to push through that uncomfortable nature, and the opportunities will come if you do that. I think (Badin’s) legs got a little heavy, which allowed us to push through. I love the fact that four different girls got goals, and we’ve got an entirely new back line. All four defenders were not even on varsity last year.”

Fee said last year’s 5-0 victory over the Rams set the tone for the season. He’s hoping this win will have a similar effect.

McFarland’s goal was the 15th of her Badin career. Slusher described the junior’s score as “pretty spectacular.”

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was going in. I just felt it,” McFarland said. “Throughout the first half I kept hitting these one-touch shots and soaring them over. I wasn’t really getting my body down on them, but eventually I saw that ball pop out, touch and just finished right across the goalie. I picked my spot and put it right there.”

McFarland recently gave her verbal commitment to the University of Illinois and said her recruitment included programs like Louisville and Missouri. She’s a high-level club player, so it was no surprise that big programs showed interest.

Illinois went 13-6-2 under first-year coach Katie Hultin last season and advanced to the NCAA tournament. McFarland joins Badin teammate Reagan Nieman (Northern Kentucky) as a Division I commit.

“As soon as I went to Illinois, I knew that’s where I wanted to go,” said McFarland, who plans to major in exercise science. “There were some schools that were iffy and not sure if they were offering me or not, so I didn’t want to go to a school that wasn’t fully dedicated and interested in me.

“The coaching staff’s awesome, the soccer’s great, it’s the Big Ten … I think it’ll be great. You’ve got to take into consideration early freshman minutes because if you’re not playing your freshman year, you’re not getting seen by pro scouts. So it was really finding the best angle to get where I want to be in the future.”

Slusher said McFarland’s offensive skills are evident, but she’s also able to step back and excel on the defensive end.

“Bella’s really matured this year,” Slusher said. “She started as a freshman and is a very talented player, a player that’s really, really fun to watch. I think when people look at her they see her offensively, but she’s really been a pretty good defensive midfielder for us. She goes box to box and can defend for us when needed.”

The Rams will face East Central (Ind.) on Monday in the second of four consecutive road games. Summit hosts Waynesville on Tuesday.

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