Girls Soccer
2026 Season Review
The Roncalli girls soccer team finished the season 12-5-1 and faced seven ranked opponents. This season, the Royals were blessed to have a strong veteran team with nine seniors, eight of which were returning varsity players. The team leaned heavily into their leadership and varsity experience. The Royals performed outstandingly against ranked teams Bishop Chatard (4-0), Guerin Catholic (2-0), Columbus North (2-2) and Heritage Christian (2-1), and they also made a statement with a commanding 3-0 win over Franklin Central to send Coach Herschel to 100 varsity wins. Coach Herschel shared, “Our student section for that game was electric, and to hit 100 wins at home against a cross town rival, is a moment I will never forget.”
A strong Royal defense held opponents to just 17 goals, down five from last year, and earned nine shutouts. On the offensive side Roncalli scored 59 goals, up 17 from last year, and they came from 16 of the 20 varsity players. Seven players recorded four or more goals this season and sophomore Brooklyn Ahaus tied the single season school record for assists with 14. Most impressive was senior Demi Goss scoring nine goals as center back. All nine of her goals came from corner kicks or free kicks, which is a testament to how dominant she is out of the air.
On the season, Coach Herschel added, “I think I am most proud of our Guerin Catholic win. As a head coach, I have never beaten Guerin. They have a terrific program and are still in the tournament heading for semi-state in 2A. However, we came out with such confidence and played beautiful team soccer. Not only did we hold the shutout, we also put away two goals. It was an outstanding win that sent a message to surrounding schools of how much talent we had.”
That talent earned a number of Royals postseason recognition. All-Circle Conference and All-County honors went to senior Demi Goss, junior Addie Gates and sophomores Brooklyn Ahaus and Selah Roach. Gates also earned ISCA Top Team Player, while Roach (1st Team) and Ahaus (2nd Team) were each named to an All-District team. The following Royals were recognized as ISCA Academic All-State athletes; seniors Adriana Elisea, Goss, Vivie Hayes, Annie Schoettle and Lala Schoettle and juniors Carly Feldman, Gates and Alex Dew.
End-of-season Roncalli awards went to the following Royals:
Varsity
MVP: Demi Goss
Mental Attitude Award: Annie Schoettle
Coach’s Award: Senior Annabelle Hawk
Leadership Award: Senior Lala Schoettle
Sportsmanship Award: Vivie Hayes
JV
MVPs: Sophomore Scarlett Russell and Carly Feldman
Mental Attitude Award: Junior Lucy Swartz
Coach’s Award: Sophomore AJ Prewitt