Despite being an incoming freshman, this season isn’t the first time defender Adison Welsh has shared a uniform with junior forward Katiebeth May.

They share fond memories from their years of high school soccer at South Oldham High School in Crestwood, Kentucky.

May, who is a captain this season for the Eastern women’s soccer team, helped Welsh with rides to practice and other places. The two really became close friends, they said, during Welsh’s freshman year and May’s junior year of high school.

“We’ve kind of known each other for forever because we’ve always played at the same club and we’ve lived near each other,” May said.

Both players were a part of Racing Louisville’s Academy during their club years and shared three years of high school soccer with each other after Welsh took on the challenge of playing against high schoolers as an eighth grader.

“I feel like I’ve always played up growing up,” Welsh said. “The way my birthday fell, I had just always played up with those kids.”

Welsh was a four-year varsity starter at South Oldham, making 99 consecutive appearances for the team and earning the captaincy. In her sophomore year in 2022, which was May’s senior year, South Oldham won 23 of its 25 games, capping the season off with a Kentucky High School Athletic Association state championship.

May was one of the goal scorers in the 5-0 win in the final, while Welsh was part of a defense that only conceded eight goals all season and kept clean sheets in 20 of the 23 wins during that season.

“I always knew [Welsh] was going to be consistent,” May said. “It was enjoyable because I just always trusted having her in the back line. I’ve always played higher up the field, so it was just good to know there was someone back there who was going to just keep the ball out of the back of the net.”

At Racing Louisville’s academy, Welsh was recognized by the club in 2023 as the academy’s female player of the year.

“It speaks to how in kind of a professional academy environment, where there’s lots of good players and probably lots of good kids, holistically they felt like she was just the representation of that entire organization,” Eastern head coach Dirk Bennett said. “I think it speaks to the kind of person she is.”

While Bennett was putting his recruiting class together, he said that May was the one that suggested he look at Welsh.

What Bennett saw, he said, was a consistent, level-headed player that stood out at an academy with some prestige.

“[May] came to us and said, ‘Hey, this is a girl you have to look at. She’s a good player, but she is 100 percent the kind of kid we need on our team.’ That’s something you listen to as a coach,” Bennett said. “And we did, so we’re glad that we did.”

May said she doesn’t recall that exact conversation with Bennett but said she wouldn’t be surprised, based on her history with Welsh, if she did mention it.

“I knew he was going to be looking for some defenders and she’s obviously a baller,” May said. “I was like ‘Yeah, you should bring her here so I can hang out with her more.’”

Once arriving on campus, Bennett says he was impressed with Welsh’s ability to keep a cool head under pressure and respond to criticism. Her level of maturity is a big reason for her high level of consistency on the field, he said.

“As a defender anywhere in the back line, calmness under pressure is really critical,” Bennett said. “I think there’s a lot of elements to being a good defender, but that’s an important one.

Welsh has played 45 minutes or more in every game so far this season and has played the full 90 minutes in all three of her starts so far. She got her first career start in Eastern’s 1-0 win over IU Indy, which is the Panthers’ only clean sheet so far this season.

Welsh says her college experience so far has been significantly aided by May, who has helped her through general freshman-related challenges such as experiencing homesickness.

“I just always know she’s someone I can go to,” Welsh said. “I think it’s definitely easier just having a little piece of home here.”

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].