WEST CHESTER — Anne Marie Wambugu had just helped the Lakota West High School girls soccer team beat its biggest rival when one of the best players in program history walked over.
Kailyn Dudukovich reached out and playfully touched Wambugu on the head.
The Lakota West senior froze.
“I’m never washing my head again,” Wambugu joked.
For a player who has become the face of the current Firebirds, it was a brief moment to become a fan again.
Dudukovich, the former Lakota West and Ohio State star, was back at her old school Tuesday night, Sept. 29, helping with West Chester TV’s broadcast of the Firebirds’ 2-0 victory over Lakota East. She graduated from Ohio State after becoming the Buckeyes’ career leader with 44 goals and 98 points.
Wambugu knew the résumé.
“She’s a great player,” Wambugu said. “I mean, I’ve seen everything she’s done at Ohio State, broke the record for goals. She’s inspiring, and I look up to her, so it was a good moment.”
Lakota West coach Brigit Reder Wilder saw the exchange as a reflection of the program’s lasting impact.
“It’s like total full circle,” Wilder said. “A lot of my alumni stick around and stay involved in the program. They follow us, we follow them. Now it’s like a friendship side of things. It’s very cool.”
Dudukovich knows something about setting a standard at Lakota West.
As a junior in 2019, she scored 50 goals and helped the Firebirds finish 22-0-2 and win the Division I state championship — scoring both goals in a 2-1 victory over Anthony Wayne in the state final. It was Lakota West’s second girls soccer state championship, joining the program’s 1999 title.
Seven years later, Wilder is trying to develop another West team capable of making noise in October.
This one is doing it differently.
The Firebirds graduated 10 seniors from last season’s squad, leaving a young roster that has been forced to grow quickly.
“We started strong,” Wilder said. “All around, a talented freshman class came in. That fit really well with the core group that we had returning.”
Wambugu is at the center of it.
The senior forward entered this week with nine goals to lead Lakota West. But Wilder describes her as much more than a scorer.
“She’s like the engine,” Wilder said. “She is what drives us. I’ve told her this, especially throughout the season. Her mentality, whether she’s out nursing a hamstring for a week or whether she’s on the field, our results are firmly dictated by what she brings to every game.”
Tuesday offered the perfect example.
Wambugu didn’t score against East. Instead, freshman Harper Johnson and sophomore Elizabeth Hull supplied the goals as the Firebirds bounced back from a 4-2 loss to Mason. Wambugu assisted on Hull’s goal.
That might have meant even more to Wambugu.
“I’d rather have them score than me, to be honest,” she said. “The energy they brought tonight, all the goals from underclassmen — sophomore, freshman — on a big night like that, it’s amazing. I love it.”
Those contributions have become especially important during a season filled with adversity.
Junior Remi Schmidt, one of the players West expected to anchor its attack alongside Wambugu and junior Sara Newman, suffered a knee injury early in the season.
“I’ve been very proud in the way in which others have stepped up, filled new roles that maybe they weren’t expecting for the season,” Wilder said.
Hull and Johnson are among those who have answered the call.
“Several people have been like, ‘OK, me next,’” Wilder said. “Next-man-up mentality. People are stepping up.”
The Firebirds are 8-3-1 and 3-2-1 in the Greater Miami Conference, while navigating one of the area’s more difficult schedules.
Their losses included Olentangy Berlin, GMC leader Sycamore and Mason.
“When you look at the southwest Ohio rankings, us and Seton are top of the tables in terms of strength of schedule,” Wilder said.
Tuesday provided an encouraging response after the Firebirds’ loss to Mason.
“This is a prime example of a huge bounce back from a mental perspective,” Wilder said. “This is not going to keep us down. A loss is a blip in the season, and we move on. We’ve got more to focus about.
“I think we’re in a great space. I feel like they’re in a good headspace. We’re getting bodies back from an injury perspective. I don’t think the peak’s there yet.
“I think we’re on that upper trajectory.”
Wambugu wants to make sure it continues.
“I think it’s just trying to leave my mark on this program,” Wambugu said. “Being my last year, just trying to pave the way for others — younger players like Liz Hull today scored an absolute banger, and I’m just thankful I got an assist on that.
“Just trying to be a leader in any way I can.”
That made Tuesday’s scene particularly fitting.
Dudukovich once helped establish the standard Wambugu inherited. Now Wambugu is trying to hand it to the freshmen and sophomores coming behind her.
For a few moments after a rivalry victory, Lakota West’s championship past, its senior leader and its emerging young players were together on the same field.
“That’s exactly what you want out of a program,” Wilder said.
“Our goal is to win out from here, to make a statement and let everyone know that we are a talented team,” Wambugu added. “And just show it every night.”
