North Hardin has some very dangerous pieces.

 

Simeon Packer and Micah Linscott both play for high-level clubs in Louisville, IIRC.

As I said on twitter, to be fair, Collegiate's schedule was watered-down by a FORCED appearance in the All-A ... if you pull out of the All-A in one sport, you pull out in ALL (didn't used to be that way). Cannot pick and choose which sports you compete in.

 

For Collegiate, a very small school who is going to get dismantled in other sports in The Ville, the All 'A' is a big deal.

 

Collegiate was in the Bulldog Cup (along with Trinity and North Oldham, which made the final) and had to pull out in the semifinals (Atherton took its spot) because of All 'A' state.

 

Taking All 'A' games out of the equation, Collegiate STILL scored 90+ goals this year on some decent teams (St. X, North Hardin, and Butler all made state and Collegiate put multiple goals on ALL of them. ... Absolutely waxed North Hardin and Butler).

 

That all being said, CovCath (who I hadn't seen in person since last year's win over Trinity) played well (and I hope I conveyed that).

 

Collegiate did not deserve to win. CovCath, even with a rebuilt roster, was better than Louisville's best ... again.

 

Class A school or not, Collegiate was still the 7th region champion and that region has probably produced more soccer state champs than any other region in the state. Yesterday, CCH came to play and Collegiate looked flat to me. Their coach chose to leave their two leading scorers on the bench to start the game. I assume he was thinking his reserves would roll over the defending state champs and he didn't need them? LOL

 

For CovCath to graduate 18 seniors after winning the state title and be able to reload to get to this point is pretty remarkable and is a testament to the coaching staff and the senior class as well as the underclassmen who have filled those roles. Good luck to the Colonels on Thursday.

By Nate Bryan October 29, 2016

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the Covington Catholic Colonels, the second verse was almost the same – and as sweet – as the first.

 

During their boys soccer state championship run last year, the Colonels had to overcome a Louisville monster to pull off Northern Kentucky’s first title in the sport.

 

They did it again Saturday afternoon, as the Ninth Region champion Colonels stunned, shocked and shut out the favored Collegiate Titans 2-0 in the opening quarterfinal at Lafayette High School’s Ishmael Stadium.

 

Collegiate, which had a hard enough path of its own by having to go through Trinity and St. Xavier in less than five days to win the rough-and-tumble Seventh Region, was looking to pull off a double state title after winning the All “A'”Classic.

 

Instead, the Titans (24-2-1) will have to settle for their second elite eight appearance in five seasons and the state team record for single-season goals.

 

“It was an unbelievable season and I’m disappointed for the boys,” said Titans coach Chad Wozniak, whose team was the highest-ranked quarterfinalist in both the coaches’ vote and the Maher computer rankings. “We simply didn’t play good today.”

 

And Covington Catholic (21-5-2) simply did – early, late and everything in between.

 

The Colonels got an early goal as junior Noah Wulfeck headed in a right-side corner kick from junior Dominic Russo for Wulfeck’s seventh goal of the season and Russo’s fifth assist.

 

“I just had to take the opportunity and try to put it in the net,” said Wulfeck, who wasn’t on the varsity last season during the Colonels’ postseason march. “I just told myself that I had to win it and put it in the goal.”

 

Less than 200 seconds into the match, the Titans were forced into unfamiliar territory. Wulfeck’s header marked just the second time, and first in the Titans’ final 25 matches, that they trailed at any point in a match. The only other time that happened was Aug. 18 at home in a 3-1 loss to St. Xavier.

 

“The coaches, we all talked about what’s going to happen when this team does find themselves in a hole because it’s going to happen, no matter what,” Wozniak said. “And, unfortunately, that didn’t work out well for us. We decided that this game wasn’t the game to be playing the same way that we had all year.”

 

Things never got better for the Titans, who had a machine-like 162 goals entering Saturday. Their attempts over the top in the first half didn’t amount to many significant chances on goal and their crosses in the second half were thwarted time and time again by a Colonels defense which pulled many midfielders back to help.

 

“Our defense was very disciplined today and we were touch tight,” said Colonels coach Jeremy Robertson, whose team earned its 16th clean sheet of the season while becoming the only squad to blank the high-octane Titans this year. “We did what we talked about in not letting people turn. I told them at the beginning that it would be the team that makes the mistakes which will be punished for them, and in our defensive thir we did not make any mistakes today.”

 

After failing to mark Wulfeck in the first four minutes, the Titans made another mistake in the final three minutes. Colonels leading scorer Griffin Lamb had a 1-on-4 opportunity and instead of playing the ball back to milk the clock like Covington Catholic had done in previous possessions, a simple move allowed the senior forward to spring free and tuck away his 32nd goal in 28 games with just 2:28 left in the game.

 

“That was the nail in the coffin,” said Wozniak, whose team allowed multiple goals for just the third time this year. “It just really stinks. We had an unbelievable season, but that wasn’t the way we wanted to end it.”

 

I'd like to see more leadership from a coach in a post-game interview. I know nothing of Coach Wozniak, but those quotes underwhelm me.

"Their coach chose to leave their two leading scorers on the bench to start the game. I assume he was thinking his reserves would roll over the defending state champs and he didn't need them? LOL"

 

As I understand it Haji is still dealing with a knee issue and not close to 100%. Not sure about the other player.

"Their coach chose to leave their two leading scorers on the bench to start the game. I assume he was thinking his reserves would roll over the defending state champs and he didn't need them? LOL"

 

As I understand it Haji is still dealing with a knee issue and not close to 100%. Not sure about the other player.

 

He came in and played the whole game after CCH scored.

I'd like to see more leadership from a coach in a post-game interview. I know nothing of Coach Wozniak, but those quotes underwhelm me.

 

I read it as quotes from a,coach not used to losing......not one mention of credit for playing and losing to a better team......at least on that night.

I'd like to see more leadership from a coach in a post-game interview. I know nothing of Coach Wozniak, but those quotes underwhelm me.

 

I read it as quotes from a,coach not used to losing......not one mention of credit for playing and losing to a better team......at least on that night.

 

Appears to be a theme here. In addition to these news article quotes, on 3 seperate occasions Collegiate lacked sportsmanship and class. Two on the field during play and one immediately after the game. No excuse, win, loose, or draw always do it with class.

I think this is the case of not playing a tough enough schedule. I know they came out of a brutal region, but how often had they even been behind this year? When you play a tough schedule (more than just a handful of tough games), you won't always be on top of your game, so you will find yourself in situations that will present themselves in the postseason (like being down early against a good team and finding a way to fight back and win). It's best to figure out how your team responds in those situations during the regular season, and then learn from them. Not to figure out when it matters most.

 

And to clarify, I did not see this game. Just basing this off Collegiate's schedule, comments on here, and comments in the various news articles.

I think this is the case of not playing a tough enough schedule. I know they came out of a brutal region, but how often had they even been behind this year? When you play a tough schedule (more than just a handful of tough games), you won't always be on top of your game, so you will find yourself in situations that will present themselves in the postseason (like being down early against a good team and finding a way to fight back and win). It's best to figure out how your team responds in those situations during the regular season, and then learn from them. Not to try to figure it out when it matters most.

 

And to clarify, I did not see this game. Just basing this off Collegiate's schedule, comments on here, and comments in the various news articles.

Class A school or not, Collegiate was still the 7th region champion and that region has probably produced more soccer state champs than any other region in the state. Yesterday, CCH came to play and Collegiate looked flat to me.

 

For CovCath to graduate 18 seniors after winning the state title and be able to reload to get to this point is pretty remarkable and is a testament to the coaching staff and the senior class as well as the underclassmen who have filled those roles.

 

Winning the 7th is an accomplishment. That region should be juggled around to align itself geographically and help balance out the regions.

 

Move STX , Manual and Male to the 6th

Move J-town, Fern Creek and Southern to the 7th

 

 

While I think CC is the favorite going forward, Davies and Dunbar both have a very good chance. North Hardin is on the outside looking in.

Congratulations CCH on a terrific win! CCH was clearly the better team in this one. It was obvious from the start the CCH coaching staff had their players well prepared, they put in a great tactical plan and the players executed it to perfection, a TOTAL team win. My guess is Collegiate had 65+% of possession but 85+% of that was 35 yards or more away from the goal. CCH didn't chase, they didn't allow Collegiate to get in behind them in the box, just outstanding soccer by the boys from Park Hills.

On the first goal (header off a corner kick, Russo to Wulfeck) it looked like Collegiate did not put a man on the far post, huge tactical error. Wulfeck places the ball perfectly past the out stretched keeper but just inside the far post, outstanding goal, all class. CCH weathers a couple of dangerous chances by Collegiate. Cody makes a good save by coming off his line to cover up a ball on the post in the first half and CBack Dietz for CCH uses great speed, athleticism and determination which likely saved a goal by sliding in front of the Collegiate striker to block his shot from close range. Lamb goes Lamb in the final minutes to beat four Collegiate defenders and very calmly places the nail in coffin, CCH second goal in the back of the net. Only one team puts up the clean sheet on Collegiate this year, defense strong!

Collegiate has some really good players, congratulations on a great season and good luck to their seniors.

CCH this game is now in the past, prepare and ONLY focus on North Hardin on Thursday.

The road to the repeat just got shorter, two more, good luck.

Winning the 7th is an accomplishment. That region should be juggled around to align itself geographically and help balance out the regions.

 

Move STX , Manual and Male to the 6th

Move J-town, Fern Creek and Southern to the 7th

 

 

While I think CC is the favorite going forward, Davies and Dunbar both have a very good chance. North Hardin is on the outside looking in.

Will never happen. KHSAA has been steadfast in their plan to make a unified product of sports across the board in recent years. I imagine it makes their jobs slightly easier logistically for it to be the same in all sports.

Winning the 7th is an accomplishment. That region should be juggled around to align itself geographically and help balance out the regions.

 

Move STX , Manual and Male to the 6th

Move J-town, Fern Creek and Southern to the 7th

 

 

While I think CC is the favorite going forward, Davies and Dunbar both have a very good chance. North Hardin is on the outside looking in.

 

How nice would that be for the 7th region?

Moving #6 St X, #8 Dupont Manual, and # 51 Male out of the 7th region and bringing in #71 Fern Creek, #75 Southern, and #174 Jeffersontown (assume they are referred to as J-town?)

Can you negotiate a new alignment for the 9th region while you are at it?

 

And speaking "geographically" the one I have never quite figured out is Simon Kenton. On a good day Simon Kenton is about 70 miles or more from their 8th region opponents. On a bad day Simon Kenton is at most 20 miles from any region 9 opponent.

How nice would that be for the 7th region?

Moving #6 St X, #8 Dupont Manual, and # 51 Male out of the 7th region and bringing in #71 Fern Creek, #75 Southern, and #174 Jeffersontown (assume they are referred to as J-town?)

Can you negotiate a new alignment for the 9th region while you are at it?

 

And speaking "geographically" the one I have never quite figured out is Simon Kenton. On a good day Simon Kenton is about 70 miles or more from their 8th region opponents. On a bad day Simon Kenton is at most 20 miles from any region 9 opponent.

 

I'll take Kenton Co. for $1000. What three public schools are in the same county but each are in a different Region... SMH over this alignment.

Simon Kenton 8th region, Scott 10th region, Dixie Heights 9th region.

 

Simon Kenton to Scott, 12 miles

Simon Kenton to Dixie HS, 16 miles

Scott to Dixie HS, 10 miles.