Ryle 2 Covington Catholic 1

[The Double Deuce]

If you entered the year thinking Ryle was clearly the best side in NKY, and CovCath was one of 1, 2, or 3 right behind them, this game reinforced your thinking.  They played the first 20 minutes on Thursday night, but lightning suspended the game with CovCath up 1-0 and 20:24 left on the 1H clock.

They picked up from there on Saturday night, a huge crowd from both teams (including spirited student sections dressed in either all orange [Ryle] or jerseys [CovCath]), and beautiful weather.  Ryle got two goals from stud center-back Aiden Byrd, one with :48 before halftime, another early in the 2nd half, both on corners, and made that hold up.  The play was quite even the first 20 minutes (Thursday), but Ryle had the better of it decisively on Saturday night after the restart.  

I'm not sure this game did much to clarify the picture except that Ryle is a clear #1, and CovCath remains in the chase pack hoping for another shot in the Regional Tourney.

While Aiden Byrd was clearly the Man of the Match for the victors, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Aiden Nolting, the CovCath keeper admirably filling in for the injured Carter Eilers, who absolutely kept CovCath in the game with save after save.