Fleming County goalkeeper London Riley sends the ball down the field against the Ashland Blazer Kittens on Sept. 30, 2025.
The Fleming County Lady Panthers and Ashland Blazer Kittens met on the soccer field Tuesday, Sept. 30.
In what was the Lady Panthers’ final home game of 2025, Fleming County hosted the Kittens Tuesday evening, hoping to end their two-game losing streak. Their last win was a 2-1 victory over the Bath County Lady Cats on Sept. 16. Since then, the Lady Panthers have lost 9-0 to Russell on Sept. 17, and 2-1 to Estill County on Sept. 30.
Ashland came into the game off of a 6-1 loss to Wheelersburg, Ohio, also hoping to win their last game of the regular season.
Ashland put up one goal early in the first half and led for the first 40 minutes of play. The Lady Panthers nearly tied the contest 1-1 midway through the half, but an offsides call kept the Kittens in the lead. As the clock ran out, another goal by Ashland set them up 2-0 over Fleming County.
“The first half was really, really good. They played really well and were playing defense, securing their passes and doing what they needed to do,” said Lady Panthers head coach, Kelsey Jent. “We had multiple shots on the goal and pressing their goalie up some. It was just one of those things coming out in the second half, I’m trying to get them out of the mentality of being just a half team. We need to be a whole game team.”
Despite a continuous effort from the Fleming County offense, the Kittens’ defense successfully held off their strikers for the remainder of the game. Three more goals scored by Ashland in the second half secured their victory over the Lady Panthers, taking the win 5-0 to improve their season record to 8-8-0.
Ashland’s offense consisted of three goals scored by Meisha Salisbury, one goal and four assists by Marisa Baker, and one more goal from Addison Wolfe. Starting goalkeeper for the Kittens, Mallorie Caudill, picked up three saves.
“It’s just one of those things, it’s more mental than anything. Our mental health and mental stability are just one of those things we need to work on,” said Coach Jent.
The Lady Panthers have one more regular season game, which will take place in West Carter against the Lady Comets on Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. Following this game, Fleming County will begin preparations for a run through the 61st District Tournament.
“We’ll have practice on every off day that we do have, going over a few things, going over film and all the mistakes. Just pointing those out and getting them ready, we’re looking back at all of our district play games this season, the formations and seeing how everybody plays,” said Coach Jent.
The Lady Panthers are currently 5-10-0 on the season, sitting at 3-1 against district opponents. Fleming County remains confident as they head into next week’s tournament.
“Going into postseason right now, we’re just focused on our district and moving forward,” said Coach Jent. “We have a really young team, losing nine seniors from last year, so we’re just trying to rebuild a program and get them into the shape they need to be.”
