The Boyle County girls found the net again this week, and they may have rediscovered their confidence as a result.

After scoring only two goals in their final four regular-season games, the Lady Rebels filled up the nets in the two games this week that led them to yet another district championship.

They defeated Lincoln County 8-0 on Wednesday night to win the girls 45th District Tournament, and their victory in the title game at Lincoln came two days after they defeated Danville by the same score in the semifinals.

The level of competition may not have been quite the same as in the two weeks preceding the postseason, but Boyle coach Brian Deem said the offensive onslaught served to lift everyone’s spirits, particularly in the wake of a scoreless draw in their final regular-season game against Southwestern.

“They realized that there wasn’t an invisible force field between the pipes after the last game we played against Southwestern,” Deem said. “It was nice to see the ball go in the back of the net for us and to see a lot of nice offensive-defensive combinations and movement.”

Claire Combs scored four times and Maggie Burke had three goals Wednesday as No. 24 Boyle (14-6-2) gave its seniors a fourth consecutive district title to add to their significant list of achievements that includes a regional title and a run to the state semifinals last year and the Kentucky 2A Championships title earlier this season.

“They’ve had a very special career … and knowing that we’ve got an opportunity to compete for a region title and to see what we can do after that,” Deem said.

The district title was the program’s 16th in the past 18 years, including 11 in 13 years of the current configuration of the 45th District.

And it propels the Lady Rebels into next week’s 12th Region Tournament as the favorites. The tournament, which will also include Lincoln (9-11-1), is expected to begin Monday at Somerset.

Prior to its semifinal win over Danville, Boyle had not tasted victory since its win over Christian Academy of Louisville in the 2A title game Sept. 22.

The Lady Rebels lost to three ranked teams, including No. 1 Sacred Heart, by a combined score of 13-2 before the draw with Southwestern in their regular-season finale.

“The girls were really down after that draw and deservedly so, but we did a lot of good things that night. It was just an unlucky night,” Deem said. “Hats off to my girls. They’ve been resilient, they fought through a lot of ups and downs and at the end of the year you get tired and you’re ready for postseason, and they responded really well this week.”

Burke raised her team-leading goal total to 22 with her hat trick, and Combs raised her total to 14.

Ellery Taylor also scored one goal for Boyle on Wednesday after getting two Monday.

At the other end of the field, the Boyle defense got its 12th shutout of the season and its 12th consecutive clean sheet against 45th District foes.

“That’s something we take pride in,” Deem said. “If we’re going to win anything big we’ve got to have great defense.”

Lincoln (9-11-1), which will join Boyle in the regional tournament, defeated Garrard County 3-1 in the semifinals to give coach Lewis Cummins an unusual distinction.

Cummins is now the career coaching wins leader for both the Lincoln girls and boys programs after moving to the top of the Lady Patriots’ list Monday with his 40th win in four seasons.

Cummins became the winningest coach in the Lincoln boys program with 44 wins in five seasons from 2016-20.