LEX-LOU again in 2014 on the boys side?

[Sir!]

Since 2000, Louisville & Lexington boys high schools have won states 13 of 14 years. Last year's LEX-LOU finals pairing brings back a lot of talent. Offensively, Trinity returns 3 of its 5 top scorers (Stockton, Armistad and Rickert with 37 goals between them) and Dunbar brings back two of its top four scorers (Clemente and Norris with 38 goals between them). I'm not sure any northern KY team brings back 37 or 38 goals across their entire set of returning players. Any chance a northern KY team can take a run at states this year?

[groinpull]

I'd agree that until a team from another region steps up that Lexington/Louisville area teams can rightfully be tabbed as favorites. Personally, I believe CCH has a shot this year but they need to get out of the region first. The Colonels were not high scoring last year at all and tallied only 62 goals in total according to the KHSAA stats. 31 of those goals were scored by returning players but I think the number was higher as I know a couple kids who scored that are not on the list. I don't believe they will be high scoring this year either but they have a lot of quality players and athletes. On paper, they can and should be right there in the thick of things but that doesn't mean much when the whistle blows.

[Yellow Card]

Since 2000, Louisville & Lexington boys high schools have won states 13 of 14 years. Last year's LEX-LOU finals pairing brings back a lot of talent. Offensively, Trinity returns 3 of its 5 top scorers (Stockton, Armistad and Rickert with 37 goals between them) and Dunbar brings back two of its top four scorers (Clemente and Norris with 38 goals between them). I'm not sure any northern KY team brings back 37 or 38 goals across their entire set of returning players. Any chance a northern KY team can take a run at states this year?

 

Cooper has Ross, O'Brien and Snow returning, I think they had about 30, 20 and 10 respectively last year and maybe about 40-50 assists between them. Please do not confuse this with me thinking they can make a run at state this year, goals are not enough to win.

[Yellow Card]

I'd agree that until a team from another region steps up that Lexington/Louisville area teams can rightfully be tabbed as favorites. Personally, I believe CCH has a shot this year but they need to get out of the region first. The Colonels were not high scoring last year at all and tallied only 62 goals in total according to the KHSAA stats. 31 of those goals were scored by returning players but I think the number was higher as I know a couple kids who scored that are not on the list. I don't believe they will be high scoring this year either but they have a lot of quality players and athletes. On paper, they can and should be right there in the thick of things but that doesn't mean much when the whistle blows.

 

They might not put up a lot of goals but I do like their chances of making a run at state.

[groinpull]

They might not put up a lot of goals but I do like their chances of making a run at state.

 

Agreed. The old adage about defense winning championships is true. Obviously you have to score as well but I think the Colonels will go as far as their relatively untested defense takes them this year. CCH can put a dominating midfield on the pitch that I think is the strength of their team. If the defense comes together they have a shot at making some noise. As I have said previously, I'd like to see a couple of the JV kids playing and hopefully by the end of the year that will happen.

[Yellow Card]

I agree that their midfield is strong at CCH, should help them control the flow of most matches. I am not sure that many teams will test their defense much so it should give them time to "come together". Scoring should take care of itself if the midfield plays to their potential.

 

This past weekend I was able to see most of the NKY teams play and there is definitely no squad that is strong in all of three areas of the field. I saw a few that seem OK with their defense/mids, or forwards/mids but I cannot recall seeing a team that looked above average in all 3 areas.

[Sir!]

HHS (8/23), CCH (9/6) and St. Henry (9/13) all have Trinity in regular season. Ryle (8/23) and St. Henry (10/7) have Dunbar. Region 9 winner may well host Dunbar (Region 11@ Region 9). Something to look forward to.

[red card]

Since 2000, Louisville & Lexington boys high schools have won states 13 of 14 years. Last year's LEX-LOU finals pairing brings back a lot of talent. Offensively, Trinity returns 3 of its 5 top scorers (Stockton, Armistad and Rickert with 37 goals between them) and Dunbar brings back two of its top four scorers (Clemente and Norris with 38 goals between them). I'm not sure any northern KY team brings back 37 or 38 goals across their entire set of returning players. Any chance a northern KY team can take a run at states this year?

Realistically, at least on paper, I think not. Cov Cath is by far the best team in NKY one through eleven based on club talent. The thing they will have to prove, and they very well may, as the season progresses, is can someone step up be a real difference maker up top.

 

I'll be the first to admit, I've thrown out plenty of stats and names based on goals scored and who scored them in the ninth/tenth region. I've also seen Stockton up close and personal on the club level. It's just hard for me to believe that even the best of NKY pull it off.

[Sir!]

Yup. Stockton is a treat to watch play.

[groinpull]

I would think that CCH needs someone to net 15-20 goals for them this year with contributions from some others to be successful. I think in general they will be a low scoring team which is a problem because you can dominate possession but lose 1-0 or 2-1 to a ball or two played over the top. As Trinity winds through the schedule of N. Ky. teams listed above it should be a good indicator of where everyone stands. They beat a pretty mediocre CCH team last year 4-0 but were not overly impressive to me.

[Oldtimebaseball84]

So what would you consider a successful season/good showing for a nky team? How far?

[red card]

So what would you consider a successful season/good showing for a nky team? How far?

That's all relative to talent I suppose. For some teams getting to and advancing in regionals is going to be an exceptional year.

I think any team that advances to state can rightly say had an exceptional season. I'm sure that is the goal of Cov Cath and rightly so based on what they have on paper.

I won't say that they cannot go deep, if they do in fact get that far. I would also agree that a 20 goal scorer would be sufficient on that team for it to be highly effective.

[Oldbird]

Wouldn't one need to know what games the 20 goals were scored in to fully understand the relative weighting? Without that information how can one debate whether 20 will be enough? Because everyone knows - all goals are not created equal. :banana:

[Offsides]

I would think that CCH needs someone to net 15-20 goals for them this year with contributions from some others to be successful. I think in general they will be a low scoring team which is a problem because you can dominate possession but lose 1-0 or 2-1 to a ball or two played over the top. As Trinity winds through the schedule of N. Ky. teams listed above it should be a good indicator of where everyone stands. They beat a pretty mediocre CCH team last year 4-0 but were not overly impressive to me.

 

I don't think the number of goals by one player will determine the success of CCH this year. The key is to score enough in each game to win. Obviously CCH didn't do that last year when it counted, however, let's compare two teams. One had no player score more than 10 goals. The other had players that scored 30, 18 and 9. Which team would you say had the better year?

 

The former finished 10-2-1 against northern Kentucky teams. The later finished 6-9-1 with most of the wins against decidedly weak opponents. While the second team had some impressive individual statistics, 57 combined goals, 28 were against 4 teams. So, having bountiful scorers for the season is neither necessary nor sufficient to win.

 

CCH had balanced scoring last year, and I expect the same this year. Last year they had 14 players score with their top 5 averaging 9 goals per game. That said, I think they need to score more than last year, but goals should come from a number of spots on the field. Only 8 goals from their starting striker last year will have to improve. Plus I think Ballow, Day, and Kenney will increase their scoring from last year. Look for a lot more than 1 from Schuh as well.

 

These stats are from the KHSAA website. I make no claim to their accuracy.

[red card]

I don't think the number of goals by one player will determine the success of CCH this year. The key is to score enough in each game to win. Obviously CCH didn't do that last year when it counted, however, let's compare two teams. One had no player score more than 10 goals. The other had players that scored 30, 18 and 9. Which team would you say had the better year?

 

The former finished 10-2-1 against northern Kentucky teams. The later finished 6-9-1 with most of the wins against decidedly weak opponents. While the second team had some impressive individual statistics, 57 combined goals, 28 were against 4 teams. So, having bountiful scorers for the season is neither necessary nor sufficient to win.

 

CCH had balanced scoring last year, and I expect the same this year. Last year they had 14 players score with their top 5 averaging 9 goals per game. That said, I think they need to score more than last year, but goals should come from a number of spots on the field. Only 8 goals from their starting striker last year will have to improve. Plus I think Ballow, Day, and Kenney will increase their scoring from last year. Look for a lot more than 1 from Schuh as well.

 

These stats are from the KHSAA website. I make no claim to their accuracy.

I agree that goals in and of themself won't win games, especially if your defense isn't dominant. By the same token, regardless of time of possession and how pretty a team looks in doing so, you have to score to win. My point is, a dominant, go to type of goal scoring threat (not necssarily based on stats) could be the difference in Cov Cath being very good or Cov Cath being exceptional.

 

I'm not really sure how this other team and what happened last year even enters this conversation.