Boys' Elite 8!!

[The Double Deuce]

In the entire wonderful state of Kentucky, only 8 boys' teams will have practice this evening, so they all deserve a huge congratulations!  It is a terrific accomplishment to be one of the last 8 standing, overcoming adversity along the way in nearly every case, surviving district and regional tournaments, and then winning your first State Tournament game (including 2 managing to win road games, which is never easy this time of year).

Here is the schedule for your Elite 8 over the next 3 days:

*  Thursday, October 21st, at 7:00:  Boyd County (#71 in Maher Ranking) at Dunbar (#2)

*  Thursday, October 21st, at 7:00:  Daviess County (#3) at North Oldham (#1)

*  Saturday, October 23rd, at 5:00:  Butler (#16) at Elizabethtown (#11)

*  Saturday, October 23rd, at 5:00:  CovCath (#20) at Somerset (#51)

The four winners will play in the Kentucky Final Four on October 27th at Frederick Douglass, with the State Championship game being held on Saturday, the 30th, at 4:00, at Freddy D.

Good luck to all 8 teams, and you should absolutely be incredibly proud of advancing this far.  Enjoy the heck out of today's practice, there are a LOT of teams around the state that would love to be lacing the boots up this afternoon in your stead, so don't take this for granted.  Getting this far in a single-classification sport in KY is a big deal...and is never easy.

May all of these young men play well, play hard, and stay healthy!

[The Double Deuce]

For no reason besides my own curiosity, here are the BOYS enrollment numbers for the schools in the Elite 8 (as of 2019-20):

1.  Dunbar  1,015

2.  Daviess Co.  921

3.  Butler  794

4.  CovCath  545

5.  North Oldham  526

6.  Boyd Co.  469

7.  Elizabethtown  389

8.  Somerset  299

[The Double Deuce]

Last nugget about these 8 soccer teams fortunate to still be playing.  Here are the State Championships and State Runner-ups for the 8 remaining programs:

1.  Dunbar:  4 times State Champions (1992, 2001, 2005, 2013) and 2 times State Runner-Up (1993, 2012)

2.  Daviess County:  1 time State Champion (2016) and 3 times State Runner-Up (2010, 2017, 2019)

2.  CovCath:  1 time State Champion (2015) and 3 times State Runner-Up (1983, 1998, 2016)

4.  Elizabethtown:  1 time State Runner-Up (1992)

[The Double Deuce]

St. Xavier's dominance is just amazing:  15 state titles (out of 46 State Champions), and 11 of them under Coach Andy Schulten.  That is just eye-popping stuff, truly.  

[The Double Deuce]

Okay, last nugget, and I may have this wrong, but I don't think so.  Not one of the 46 KY State Champions in Soccer were located east of I-75.  0 for 46.  I'm not an expert on Lexington-area high schools, but I think Sayre is the only one of them that is east of 75, and they haven't won one. 

30 are in Louisville.

12 are in Lexington.

2 are in Bowling Green.

1 in NKY.

1 in Owensboro.

[okie1]

5 hours ago, The Double Deuce said:

Okay, last nugget, and I may have this wrong, but I don't think so.  Not one of the 46 KY State Champions in Soccer were located east of I-75.  0 for 46.  I'm not an expert on Lexington-area high schools, but I think Sayre is the only one of them that is east of 75, and they haven't won one. 

30 are in Louisville.

12 are in Lexington.

2 are in Bowling Green.

1 in NKY.

1 in Owensboro.

Or in other words all the state championships have been won from the states 5 most heavily populated areas.  Makes since in a lot of ways.

[The Double Deuce]

I listed the Maher rankings in the original post, here are the MaxPreps rankings (updated as of 10/21) for the 8 teams still playing in Kentucky:

#1  North Oldham

#2  Dunbar

#3  Daviess County

#15  Elizabethtown

#17  Butler

#22  CovCath

#29  Boyd County

#32  Somerset

[The Double Deuce]

Good luck to these 4 teams tonight as they battle to see who gets to advance to the Kentucky Boys' Soccer Final 4 next week!!!  

*  Thursday, October 21st, at 7:00:  Boyd County (#71 in Maher Ranking) at Dunbar (#2)

*  Thursday, October 21st, at 7:00:  Daviess County (#3) at North Oldham (#1)

[FrankNicodemus]

Saw this pic on Twitter, thought it was pretty cool

 

[The Double Deuce]

Thanks for sharing, very cool!