KHSAA Final Four Recap: South Oldham

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This past week the Kentucky lacrosse scene descended upon Shelbyville and Collins High School for what was the first-ever final four under the KHSAA umbrella.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The last four teams standing in the Bluegrass were South Warren out of the first region, Trinity out of the fourth region, South Oldham out of the sixth, and Woodford County out of the eighth. Each of those were reigned as champions of their respective regions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After taking a look at semifinalists in <a href="https://preplacrosse.com/2025/05/khsaa-final-four-recap-south-warren/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">South Warren</a> and <a href="https://preplacrosse.com/2025/05/khsaa-final-four-recap-woodford-county/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Woodford County</a> earlier this week, let's now move to those who played in the title game and start with the runner-up South Oldham Dragons.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Oldham has been for a number of years now the third-best team in the state behind Louisville Catholic boys schools Trinity and St. Xavier. That makes the Dragons the clear-cut best public school program in the Bluegrass State. The Dragons, having played in a championship game each of the past three seasons, have never claimed the top of the mountain in Kentucky lacrosse but have gotten closer each year. This past season, Joe Richie's squad went 17-6 overall and 6-0 versus region six competition. Their only two in-state losses came to the aforementioned state powers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the postseason, the Dragons ran through the sixth region tournament with blowout wins versus Shelby County and arch rival North Oldham. Blowout wins over Ryle and Dixie Heights in the first and second rounds of the state tournament followed, pushing the Dragons into the final four. In Shelbyville last Monday, the Dragons were involved in the most competitive semifinal game as they defeated Woodford County 15-11 to punch their ticket to the title game. The Dragons beat the Yellowjackets 10-8 in the regular season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Facing off against Trinity in the state championship game, South Oldham showed once more that they can play with the big boys. Despite holding an early 4-1 lead, they faltered to the powerhouse as the Shamrocks took down the Dragons 12-8. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South Oldham was headlined this past season by two major factors. Firstly, the Dragon enjoyed possession advantage in nearly every game given the faceoff success of Mount St. Mary's-bound [player_tooltip player_id='24113' first='Owen' last='Rupp']. Secondly, South Oldham had the talent to use that advantage effectively as they were one of the top scoring offenses in Kentucky. South Oldham averaged 15.1 goals per game in 2025.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at those major standouts for South Oldham this past season:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["24113"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6831e6af1c616"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">When talking about South Oldham's success in recent years, the conversation must start and end with the play of Rupp. Heading to Mount St. Mary's in the fall, Rupp has not been just a faceoff guy for the Dragons but also someone who stays on and is impactful on offense. He broke the state record with 1,000 career faceoff wins this past spring while also putting up 84 points off 51 goals and 33 assists. He went a combined 40-for-53 (75%) at the dot in the semifinals and finals last week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["24119"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6831e6af1c684"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The midfielder put together a tremendous junior campaign, scoring 72 goals and dishing out 32 assists for 104 points. He led the Dragons and was third in the state in scoring. While not the most physical or fastest, Rogers is a strong dodger who knows how to get his hands free and into the space nearly anywhere on the field. He is at his strongest working from that traditional midfield spot up top. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["31922"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6831e6af1c6d2"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Olson has mostly played the role of X attackman for the Dragons. He works very well from behind the cage and has shown tremendous ability as a balanced playmaker who can dodge to feed or score. He has good field awareness and always has his head up. Olson ended the year with 91 points off 48 goals and 43 assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["24115"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6831e6f05951f"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">A multi-sport athlete, Estrada helped to lead the way out in front for the South Oldham defense. He can play down low as a close defender or up top at the LSM spot. Being very versatile, the senior has consistently shown the ability to not only be a solid one-on-one defender who can put the ball on the carpet but also someone who can impact things in transition when needed. He had six goals and five assists in addition to his defensive exploits this spring.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->