NKY Top 10, Aug 23rd edition

[FrankNicodemus]

Another fun and exciting week of soccer was had for the NKY.  I have some reorganization of the Top 10 this week.  I appreciate the added intelligence from @Big Red .  Going to be another fun week ahead of us.  We have 2 teams traveling down to that other state below us to play in a tourney (Cooper & Conner), I wish them well!  We also have defending State Champ Sacred Heart coming up to play Conner tonight.  The other traveler this week will be the Birds when they fly down to face Lexington Lafayette.

Without further ado here is the Rankings how I see them:

1. NOTRE DAME 4-0 (Last week #1)

- They handled 3 very tough competitions last week without having the other team touch the ball last before going into NDA’s goal :).  They are the Top Panda right now and it will take a ‘perfect” game to take them down.  

• 3 games this week (Holy Cross, Beechwood & Dixie), Dixie at the end of the week will be a fun and I imagine a VERY physical game.

2. HIGHLANDS 2-0 (Last week #2)

- Unfortunately, they only had one game this past week and did well representing NKY down in Lville knocking off Assumption 4-2.  We saw Gessner for the first time in goal have a clean sheet in the 2nd half.  Haley Parks started in goal for the first half.  

• 1 game this week (Lafayette)

3. DIXIE 2-2-1 (Last week #3)

- They had a tough week last week getting knocked off late by Lex Cath and had to battle Conner to a tie in the heat on Saturday.  I might be called out on this ranking but my gut still thinks this is the Rank they deserve.  

• 3 games this week (Campbell County, Simon Kenton & NDA) They need to prove their NKY’s worth by knocking off Campbell County and SK.  A little concerned with that tie against Conner.  Let’s see if that might have been a heat induced fluke.

4. COOPER 4-1 (Last week #5)

- Had a really good week trouncing Grant County and then winning for the first time in program history against Simon Kenton.  

• 5 games this week (Scott Country, NCC and then they travel down to TN to play in a tournament)

5. NCC 3-0-1 (Last week #6)

- A little disappointed with the tie to SK on Saturday I was already plugging them in at #4 but then that happened.  

• 4 games this week (Scott, Cooper, Boone Co & GRC).  I strategically placed Cooper #4 and NCC #5 b/c if NCC deserves #4 they will need to earn it. Plus don’t stub your hoof on Scott and/or Boone.

6. CONNER 2-0-4 (Last week #7)

- Went into Indiana and beat S. Dearborn but then came back to NKY to tie both St Henry and Dixie.  Who is this team?  Are you the team that ties #3 Dixie or are you a team that ties 2 teams outside Top 10 (Bishop & St Henry)???  If they had won against Bishop & St Henry they would be higher.  These 2 games are the reason why they are #6.

• 5 games this week (Sacred Heart, Campbell County and then they travel down to TN to play in a tournament)

7. RYLE 3-2-1 (Last week #8)

- They had a whole slate of games this past week with 5. They faired well with winning 3, losing 1, and tying 1.  Their lone lose coming late against NDA with a score of 2-0 in a fierce battle.  This might be the one ranking that will cause some people some heartburn.  I like Ryle and they probably in other polls could be higher but for now this is where I am plugging them in.  Unfortunately it looks like they have a real light schedule playing only 4 games in the next 4 weeks.  

• 1 game this week (Oldham County)

8. CAMPBELL COUNTY 4-1-1 (Last week #9)

- They had a pretty good week winning against Simon Kenton and St Henry but I am disappointed in the tie against Beechwood.  That tie against Beechwood kept them from jumping further up the polls.  They have a great schedule this week that could propel them up, so just be patient.

• 3 games this week (Dixie, Conner & Scott)

9. SIMON KENTON 1-3-1 (Last week #4)

- They are having some beginning of the season growing pains.  Tough week losing to Campbell County and Cooper but finally saving face with a tie against NCC. Not willing to write them off just yet.  They have a great coaching staff that will hopefully turn their ship around quickly.

• 1 game this week (Dixie), this is both good and bad….Good that they only have 1 game this week which means they can concentrate on practice fixing things that they need fixed.  Bad is the one game this week is against Dixie! 

TIED 10.  HOLY CROSS 2-1 (Last week #10)

- OK I know I said I was going to write them off but then NCC also had a tough time against Villa in the All A Regional final.  Plus I don’t have a team that is wowing me to replace them.

• 3 games this week (NDA, Ludlow & Boone).  I realize NDA is going to be a struggle for them BUT they better take care of business against Ludlow & Boone.

TIED 10. BEECHWOOD 1-2-1 (Last week NR)

- The 10 spot was a tough spot to fill and like I said I didn’t have someone to replace Holy Cross with but due to the fact Beechwood came to play and tied a very hot Campbell County team last week 3-3, I will give Beechwood a second chance in the Top 10.

• 3 games this week (Grant Co, NDA & Villa)

It’s still early and things are trying to shape out in the order of these rankings.  I think we might all agree that #4 - #8 you probably could shake up and spit out another order and people would agree with you as much as this order.

Good luck this week to all.

[FrankNicodemus]

Now onto tonight.  A couple of good match ups today and then we have probably some that might get out of hand.  

The BIG ONE that could shake up the rankings is if #8 Campbell County can drive over and catch #3 Dixie off guard.

Really would like to see #6 Conner show well against Sacred Heart but for some reason I am not holding my breath.

Here is the list of games:

#1 NDA @ #10 Holy Cross, 5PM

#8 Campbell County @ #3 Dixie, 8PM

Scott County @ #4 Cooper, 7:30PM

#5 NCC @ Scott, 7:30PM

Sacred Heart @ #6 Conner, 6:30PM

#10 Beechwood @ Grant Co, 7:30PM

Good luck ladies!

[Big Red]

One quick thought on defending your #3 Dixie ranking is that they are putting the ball in the net vs. good competition.  For now, that's as good of a differentiator as I can see.

[rjal]

Holy Cross falls to NDA 6-0.  The Indians fought hard and didn’t allow any goals in the second half, but were outmanned by the deeper, stronger Pandas.  Kudos to several HC players who had to play 70+ minutes in the brutal heat due to injuries limiting the roster.  Next up for the Indians Ludlow in Wed and Brossart Saturday.  

[FrankNicodemus]

Nightly News update:

In my opinion no real surprises in the NKY this evening, glad the HEAT didn’t cancel any Varsity matches.

As @rjalpoints out #10 Holy Cross couldn’t bring the magic against #1 NDA or even grab that elusive goal that no one has done yet against NDA.  

#3 Dixie handles #8 Campbell County by a score of 4-1, the only shocker here is I thought it would be closer, guess not

#4 Cooper takes down the visiting Cardinals of Scott County 4-1

#5 NCC beats Scott High School 3-1

Sacred Heart came up from the Ville to flex their muscle and beat up #6 Conner 4-0, which is Conner’s first lose of the year.

#10 Beechwood pulled a “Spurrier” and ran up the score down in Grant County to win 11-1.

Here’s your teaser for Wednesday:  4 games will be played with both teams in the Top 10, FUN TIMES!!!!!

[FrankNicodemus]

A lot of Top 10 action tonight against one another.  It is actually the ONLY time this season where we will have 4 games that have both teams in the Top 10.  This is a recipe for a lot of changes if the underdogs decide to take victory.  

Here is the list of games:

#10 Beechwood @ #1 NDA, 7pm

#3 Dixie @ #9 Simon Kenton, 7:30pm

#5 NCC @ #4 Cooper, 7:30pm

#8 Campbell County @ #6 Conner, 8pm

The last 2 games on this list are the ones I am excited for.  Now that we know SImon Kenton is having a rough start this will be a great test to see if Cooper is a legit Top 5 team.  Campbell County in my mind had a tough last week playing games I thought they would win easily and they ended up beating SK only by 1 goal and tying Beechwood.  Let’s see if they can show up and get back on their Camel and come away with a win out in Hebron.

I think the top 2 games, Notre Dame and Dixie will come to play and take down Beechwood and Simon Kenton pretty easily.  If those games are not determined by more than 3 or 4 goals I will be shocked!

[FrankNicodemus]

I swear when I was double checking the games tonight I had on my reporting that #7 Ryle was @ Oldham County tonight but when I cross referenced my stuff with the KHSAA Scoreboard this afternoon it said that game is tomorrow BUT now I see they have fixed it and it is now slated for tonight at 8pm.

This will be a nice indication how Ryle has improved coming off of some nice wins in Tennessee over the weekend.  Oldham County tied #6 Conner in the first week of the season 1-1.

Let’s go Raiders, show us your stuff!

 

[FrankNicodemus]

What an exciting night of soccer!  Some expected and not expected battles out in the NKY.  Plus a huge accomplishment for a fellow BLUEBIRD!

First off the NDA surprisingly had a close battle with Beechwood but like most of their games they just need 1 goal to win with their clean sheet capability!  They beat Beechwood 3-0.

Shocker of the evening!  Simon Kenton protects their house and UPSETS Dixie 2-1.  The “Twitter excuse” was posted quickly making everyone aware Dixie must have been down a few players due to being “quarantined”.

Cooper fought all game long with NCC and finally snuck a goal in with less than 10 min left on the clock to win a nail biter 1-0.

Ryle went down to Oldham County and turned in a clean sheet themselves (4th one of the season) and pulled off a 1-0 win.

I saved the best for last:  Campbell County down 1-0 at half Ruby Dunleavy told her fellow teammates to jump on her back and lets show them what we can do offensively.  With that being said Ruby scored 2 goals along with fellow teammates adding 3 more for a sweet 2nd half display of soccer to down Conner 5-2!  Why this victory is extra special is that 1976 Highlands High School Bluebird alum Dave Morris who is in his 15th season at the helm for Campbell County got his 200th VICTORY as a coach.  Only 13 other coaches in the state of Kentucky apparently have hit this milestone.  Which by the way includes fellow NKY coach Rob Zoeller over at Simon Kenton.  CONGRATS COACH MORRIS JOB WELL DONE!

[Big Red]

Congrats Coach Morris on 200!  Well done, and in a very nice win.

After seeing both Beechwood and Ryle recently, they are very comparable and easy to understand the low scoring, tight games.  Both are well coached and physically solid on defense plus have VERY good goalies.  We knew that Ryle had a great goalie, but I was very impressed with Beechwood's goalie.  Beechwood is also a bigger, more athletic team than past few years.  They don't get pushed around, and Derrick is a great coach.  Great to see them play like this. 

The quarantine issue stinks.  That said, I don't think NDA posted that as an issue when they had same problem with key players last year in the regional semi's.  I hope no one else has to deal with that going forward.

A lot of quality play across the area this year!

[FrankNicodemus]

Here is your Friday edition of what is going on with our NKY teams before it gets crazy out there.

I would say the 2 Heavyweight matchups for this weekend pit NDA hosting the Lady Colonels of Dixie and then you have Highlands making another road trip south this time down to Lexington to face Lafayette.  You then have Cooper and Conner having some fun times in the Smokey Mountain tournament in Gatlinburg, TN.  NCC hosts George Rogers Clark.  Campbell County runs over to Scott High School.  Finally Beechwood entertains Villa Madonna.  Ryle, Simon Kenton and Holy Cross get to relax and enjoy a nice weekend.

Here are the times:

#3 Dixie @ #1 NDA, 1pm

#2 Highlands @ Lafayette 7pm

GRC @ #5 NCC, 12:30

#8 Campbell County @ Scott, 11am

Villa Madonna @ #10 Beechwood, 7:30pm

The more I think about it the only real good game might be Highlands/Lafayette especially if Dixie already informed everybody after the lose to SK they have players quarantined, if they aren’t at full strength I am sure we might just get another repeat tweet they aren’t at full strength.

As far as the other games I will be surprised if NCC, Campbell County and Beechwood don’t win easily.

Have fun this weekend!

[Sbreeze]

The NDA/Dixie game has been moved up to 11:30 due to the heat index.

[rjal]

Holy Cross loses a close one today to Brossart 2-1 making them 0-2 for the week after a loss to NDA and Ludlow cancellation for Covid.   Next week is district rival Beechwood in what should be a hotly contested game. 

[FrankNicodemus]

Weekend recap:

As I thought the only true quality game ended up being the Highlands @ Lexington Lafayette.  Highlands scored early with Laney Smith’s fancy footwork in the box and nailed a shot that went by a diving keeper to go up 1-0.  Highlands missed some easy chances to pile on but couldn’t in the first half.  Lafayette tied it up with 15 min to go.  Then a really nice connection between Rehberger to Laney for the winning goal at the end of the game.  

The other games of the weekend weren’t much to talk about:

NDA crushes Dixie 6-0

NCC took care of George Rodgers Clark 5-2

Bishop Brossart pretty much sends Holy Cross out of the Top 10 beating them 2-1

Beechwood plays a close one but pulls out the W against Villa Madonna 2-1

Cooper had a nice trip to Tennessee winning 2 and losing 1

Conner did the same thing in Tennessee winning 2 and losing 1

Who is looking forward to tomorrow?????

[Big Red]

I thought I saw somewhere that the NDA / Highlands game will be broadcast.  Does anyone have that link?

[FrankNicodemus]

11 minutes ago, Big Red said:

I thought I saw somewhere that the NDA / Highlands game will be broadcast.  Does anyone have that link?

Stay tuned but yes. Planning on giving you that data on my Mon post.