Any thoughts at this point?

Towards the end of the season, here are my observations. In parenthases are the teams' state rankings, if ranked at all.

 

1. St. Henry (4) - The best team from the area last year is showing again that they are the team to beat up here. 11 wins already is pretty solid. Wins over Highlands, Bishop Brossart, Trinity, and Ryle, as well as a 2-2 tie with Louisville Manual shows that this team can flat out play.

 

2. Bishop Brossart (8) - Lots of wins every year don't come out of nowhere. They are a product of smashmouth offense, which is what they do best. Also 11 wins at this point. Only area loss is to St. Henry, and only other loss besides them is a thumping put on them by Louisville Trinity. But the recent win over Manual says that this team can beat anyone on a given night. But success in the post season will depend on if they have improved their offensive scheme. Kicking the ball and letting Uebel run onto it does not always work, and teams will figure that out (see the last two games of their season last year).

 

3. Covington Catholic - A little inconsistant, but you would be hardpressed to find a team in Northern Kentucky that can rival their scheduling. Never really given any respect until the postseason because their record is a bit deceiving. A 2-1 loss to Lexington Catholic, and a 1-0 loss to #6 ranked team in Ohio, Anderson Turpin, along with wins over defending co-champion of the GCL, Archbishop Moeller, Highlands, and Ashland Paul Blazer shows me that this team will be there in the post season.

 

4. Campbell County (14) - I am a little hesitant to rank them this high because looking at their schedule, the record does not reflect the quality of teams. Tie with Boone County and wins over Villa Madonna, Holmes, Calvary Christian, Conner twice, Holy Cross, and Simon Kenton are good for your record, but they have not faced a truly good stretch of teams yet this year. The only solid win they have is over Ryle, who is a good team. The next 4 games should tell how good they are. Lucky to get out of it 2-2. But this team in recent years has been showing that they are a tough opponent, and look for them in the regional.

 

5. Ryle - Always very tough. Not as many quality wins, but they've only played a handful of good teams so far. Time will tell with this team.

 

6. Scott - Never an easy win, as they've shown CovCath over the last 4 years. Don't let the 5-6-2 record fool you, they can win if you look past them. The recent 4-3 loss to St. Henry shows that they can put some goals in the net. Could be a sleeper team.

 

7. Highlands - After a dominant year last year, losing a lot of seniors proved to be hard to replace and reload. 4-6-2 right now, but never fear, they will show up to play. A 4-2 win over a top 25 Elizabetown team shows that they can play, but it depends on which teams shows up.

 

8. Newport Catholic - An early 3-1 start looked like NewCath might be back this year. Also beating Elizabethtown, it looked like the loss of DJ Young was not so much felt. But then they started to slide into a current 1-3-1 skid. They need to right the ship if they intend to make another post season run.

 

9. Grant County - Splitting two games with Pendleton County allows Grant to be ahead of Pendleton, because the most recent win was by the Braves. Decent results so far, but with 3 out of the next 5 games including CovCath, Brossart, and Ashland Paul Blazer, I wouldn't expect the Braves to come close in any of those 3.

 

10. Pendleton County - 9 wins already for a Pendleton County team? It's good to see. With wins over Frankfort, Boyle County, and Mason County, this team could make some noise later. A 5-2 loss to Dixie keeps them low in the rankings though.

 

Now you've heard my thoughts.

Thanks for such a knowledgable post. Very informative.

Thanks for such a knowledgable post. Very informative.

 

Care to take a shot at the rankings? It's nice to have someone to talk soccer with.

Care to take a shot at the rankings? It's nice to have someone to talk soccer with.

 

I wish I could....unfortunately that is why I placed this thread out there so I could learn more from someone like you who seems to follow and know soccer. This is my first year following high school soccer. After looking at your comments, I must agree that the two top teams at this point based upon record and scheduling to date would be Brossart and St Henry. I also agree with your comments on Campbell Co, yes they are undefeated and beat a very good Ryle team, I think that the remaining games on the schedule will show what they are made of. I agree with Ryle, they played the Camels tough and being down 3-0 they fought back. Tonight the Camels play Highlands and next week the big Brossart match-up so time will tell.

This is my prediction for this post season from what I see right now.

 

Region 9

 

District 17:

 

(1) St. Henry vs (4) Boone County

(2) Ryle vs (3) Conner

 

St. Henry defeats Ryle in the championship

 

District 18:

 

(4) Simon Kenton vs (5) Villa Madonna for the right to play Scott

 

then:

 

(1) Scott vs (4) Simon Kenton

(2) Dixie Heights vs (3) Calvary Christian

 

Scott defeats Dixie in the final - this district is very weak and I look for both teams to lose first round in the region.

 

Region 10

 

District 19:

 

(1) Bishop Brossart vs (4) Newport Central Catholic

(2) Campbell County vs (3) Highlands

 

I look for Highlands to beat Campbell County. Then Brossart wins the district easily.

 

District 20:

 

(1) Covington Catholic vs (4) Holmes

(2) Holy Cross vs (3) Covington Latin

 

CovCath easily handles Holy Cross in the finals. I'll try to predict the region soon.

Region 9

 

St. Henry defeats Dixie

Ryle defeats Scott

 

St. Henry then goes on to defeat Ryle again for the championship.

 

Region 10

 

Bishop Brossart defeats Holy Cross very easily

Covington Catholic defeats Highlands in a close game

 

I look for CovCath to defeat Brossart in the final. Brossart was ranked either #4 or #6 last year when they played CovCath, and CCH walked away with a 2-0 victory. Could be deja vu for the Mustangs. The question will be defense, and if CCH can stop the Brossart attack like they did last year, then they will win.

 

Subsection 5

 

Covington Catholic vs St. Henry

 

Last year these two met in the Subsection first round, and St. Henry scored two late goals to take a decisive 3-0 victory home. CovCath dominated the first 15 minutes of play, but St. Henry stayed tough and was able to shift momentum by sticking a goal in, and never looked back.

 

I believe St. Henry is the best team in the area, and should win. But this game is almost too close to call. My heart would take CovCath, but logic would take St. Henry.

 

So St. Henry for the second year in a row is the NKY champion IMO.

I think it may be Brossart's year to win the 10th this season on the boy's side.

It was supposed to be last year. IMO, Brossart plays too much of a one demensional offense - kick the ball up the field and let Uebel run onto it and use his natural strength and speed to take the ball and score. While this is effective, any team with a solid defense will counter it.

Maybe so, but I have not been too impressed with any of the other contenders in the region. Cov Catholic looked extremely average against Highlands and the Colonels do not have a single marquee win. Brossart's win over Manual tells me that they can for sure compete with the big boys. Highlands has played a very tough schedule which may prepare them for the post season, but I think they may be a year away. Campbell County is the least tested of the teams, even though they have an impressive record. I do not see NCC winning it either.

It was supposed to be last year. IMO, Brossart plays too much of a one demensional offense - kick the ball up the field and let Uebel run onto it and use his natural strength and speed to take the ball and score. While this is effective, any team with a solid defense will counter it.

 

What about Kidney on the other side as a scoring threat?? He may have as many goals as Jimmy this year. While BB's offense still tends to run through Uebel, don't think there aren't others who can score as well. Many teams seem to subscribe to your scouting report and are double teaming Uebel, but he's just finding Kidney and others and their offense keeps rolling on. Not sure where you're coming from on the defensive side, where they are more than solid with outstanding goalkeeping as well. Seven shutouts, and a couple "should have beens" when the JV's gave late garbage goals, in 14 games(including the then #1 ranked team in the state), held St. Henry to 1, and all against a very strong schedule. Kyle Kramer's "D" is up there with anyone's in NKY and maybe the state.

 

PS: While Brossart was shuting out NCC 2-0 last night, did we find something out about Campbell, when they finally faced a quality opponent at home and lost 3-0 to Highlands??

What about Kidney on the other side as a scoring threat?? He may have as many goals as Jimmy this year. While BB's offense still tends to run through Uebel, don't think there aren't others who can score as well. Many teams seem to subscribe to your scouting report and are double teaming Uebel, but he's just finding Kidney and others and their offense keeps rolling on. Not sure where you're coming from on the defensive side, where they are more than solid with outstanding goalkeeping as well. Seven shutouts, and a couple "should have beens" when the JV's gave late garbage goals, in 14 games(including the then #1 ranked team in the state), held St. Henry to 1, and all against a very strong schedule. Kyle Kramer's "D" is up there with anyone's in NKY and maybe the state.

 

PS: While Brossart was shuting out NCC 2-0 last night, did we find something out about Campbell, when they finally faced a quality opponent at home and lost 3-0 to Highlands??

 

I ranked Brossart #2 for a reason. They are good, and very good. I'm not saying they can't make a huge postseason run, just observing what I saw of last year. The win over Manual is huge, which I stated in my rankings. I have tremendous respect for what Brossart has done over the past few years to really up their soccer program.

 

And I would expect Brossart to shut out NCC, they are far superior. And the remark about Campbell is no different from what I said about their strength of schedule, I said it's very weak.

I agree with NCC, they do not have the team to make a run this year.

 

The top two teams right now are pretty solidly set with St. Henry and Brossart. Manual is the only really marquee win for Brossart, albeit a big big win. And St. Henry beat Brossart straight up and had a much better result against Louisville Trinity.

 

So CovCath beats Highlands at Highlands, and just looked average while doing it? Not too shabby. Even in their losses, they look good. Lost to LexCath 2-1, Ohio #6 Turpin 1-0, and beat GCL champion Moeller, and hammered top 25 Paul Blazer. And only giving up 1.0 GPG against while going up against arguably better competition than that of Brossart's schedule.

Time will tell. Although Ashland Blazer is about as close to top 25 material as Campbell County. Why is Ashland Blazer on Cov Cath's schedule twice, yet no Brossart, no St. Henry??? Seems strange. The two times I have seen CCH they have played much more kick and run than I have seen from them in the past. I just do not think they have the personnel this season to win the region.

I ranked Brossart #2 for a reason. They are good, and very good. I'm not saying they can't make a huge postseason run, just observing what I saw of last year. The win over Manual is huge, which I stated in my rankings. I have tremendous respect for what Brossart has done over the past few years to really up their soccer program.

 

And I would expect Brossart to shut out NCC, they are far superior. And the remark about Campbell is no different from what I said about their strength of schedule, I said it's very weak.

 

No arguments Crossbar! I'll only argue the "one dimensional offense, and not much defense" thoughts.

 

Back to the theme--I like your rankings except I'd move Highlands up and Campbell and CCH down. Not sure CCH in particular is near as good as their reputation, and Campbell continues to play a weak schedule, as in most sports, apparently looking to post impressive win-loss records instead of preparing their teams for the postseason. (See football, basketball, etc.)

 

It will all become clearer as many of these teams play one another in the next week or so!! Look for the "seasoned teams" to prevail!!