kyag

3-0 NCC final.

Currently 1-0 NCC. NCC scores off a short corner play via a deflection to #3.

I believe Josh Line is still out on a red card for Ryle. If this is accurate then Highlands may be the biggest beneficiary. Heard that Ryle struggled a little with St. Henry without him and it is my understanding that it is a two-game suspension, and this game would be the second so Ryle wouldn't have him back until Saturday if they win. Highlands has good speed upfront with size, this may come down to PK's in the end. I'm obviously not a fan of either team, but this should be a good game.

Good game. Missed the 1st goal but saw the rest. Very evenly matched teams with NCC making the big play in the end to win. I was sitting in the end where NCC scored and you could see it developing off the corner. Not sure why #10 was left unmarked but it was a nice header.

Cov Cath looked really good the first 10 minutes. Then it’s almost like they said…let’s sit on this 2-0 lead for the next 70 minutes. Highlands had one hit off the crossbar in the first half. Second half the ball was constantly on Cov Caths defending side and Highlands seemed to just want it more. It seemed like Highlands got to every loose ball and their speed seemed to be the difference to me. Neither team subbed much, maybe 3 for Highlands and I think Cov Cath had one with less than 3 minutes to go. With Line out the next game I think Ryle could go down to the Bluebirds. They have a nice attack up front and are quick in the midfield. Should be a good game Thursday at Boone County.

@FrankNicodemusbe glad this isn’t the 12 Region…lol.

It’s a blind draw. Winners of district (all the home teams) play a loser of a district. If it was by RPI it would be as follows: Ryle (1) vs St. Henry (8) Highlands (2) vs Dixie Heights (7) Covington Catholic (3) vs Holy Cross Covington (6) Newport Central Catholic (4) vs Cooper (5) Second round would’ve seen Ryle vs NCC and Highlands vs Covington Catholic. Finals would’ve been Ryle vs Highlands if all the top seeds advanced in that fictious scenario. As it is Ryle does get the weakest seed in the tournament, but then have to play either the 2 or 3 seed. Overall it is a pretty even draw I’m sure all the teams on the other side are happy…I think all of them but Holy Cross can make it to the finals. Here is the official bracket with time/location.

Ask and you shall receive.

@FrankNicodemusI got the NCC/Cooper one right so far per NCC/Cooper X announcement. I haven't seen the others yet.

Well...we all now know who will play next week. 33rd District (Ryle 2 Cooper 1) Ryle (17-2-1) Champion Cooper (7-7-5) Runner-up 34 District (Dixie Heights 3 St. Henry 1) Dixie Heights (7-9-2) Champion St. Henry (3-13-2) Runner-up 35 District (Covington Catholic 3 Holy Cross Covington 0) Covington Catholic (13-5-4) Champion Holy Cross Covington (12-9-2) Runner-up 36 District (Newport Central Catholic 1 {PK Shootout} Highlands 0) Newport Central Catholic (15-5-0) Champion Highlands (11-5-2) Imagine if the draw ends up being like this: We all know it's going to happen.... heck, we might see Ryle and Cooper for a 3rd time play this year by the end of it all. How the teams did vs region opponents: Ryle - 11-0-0 Cooper 4-5-1 conceded to Dixie, Ryle (2), Conner, Highlands Dixie Heights 5-4-1 conceded to Ryle, Covington Catholic, Highlands, Newport Central Catholic St. Henry 1-9-2 conceded to Cov Cath, Dixie (2), NCC, Ryle, Boone, Beechwood, Holy Cross (2) Covington Catholic 8-1-2 conceded to Ryle Holy Cross Covington 4-7-0 conceded to Highlands, NCC, Ryle, Cooper, Conner, Beechwood, Covington Catholic Newport Central Catholic 7-3-0 conceded to Cooper, Conner, Cov Cath (Something with schools starting with C NCC struggled!) Highlands 6-3-1 conceded to Ryle, NCC (2) both loses to NCC due to PK shootout. On a side note...wondering why Cov Cath only played Beechwood during the regular season? How do they not have to play Holy Cross and Holmes for seeding purposes?

He’s out for the year is my understanding….has some knee issues, possibly a tear not sure which tendon though.

Good game in Hebron tonight. Game started off with Line fouling Hughes drawing a yellow card. It is my understanding that while on the bench Line was issued another yellow resulting in a red. I’m not sure if the bench also got a card but it was an interesting 3 minutes. Cooper hung tough for most of the 1st half but Hoenderkamp found the back of the net giving Ryle the 1-0 lead. Shortly after Cooper was on the attack as Pemberton attacked down the left side driving towards the end line then crossed the ball back in front of the 6 yard box, an attacking Cooper player swung his foot at the ball and missed fortunately for Cooper as Cameron was waiting in the right spot on top of the right side and drove the shot to the left corner of the goal tying the game 1-1. Game would remainder tie going into half. 2nd half saw Ryle make some adjustments and with I believe about 18 minutes left the ball is played to Denigan who attacks the box on the right side while being pulled at and all most brought down but some how strikes the ball with his left foot to send the ball past the Cooper keeper into the back of the net. Probably one of the best shots I’ve seen all year. Denigan almost sealed it a little later on a breakaway on the left side again as he gets past the keep, takes the shot towards the right side of the goal and is denied by the right post as the ball bounces to the Cooper keeper. Pretty much after that Cooper didn’t really generate much but had two decent chances that were squashed by the Raider defense. Ryle repeats a 4th time as District 33 Champs with Hoenderkamp, Denigan, and Barth (MVP).

Thanks…. I just had some ice cream so I’m feeling better.

Ryle and Cooper play in the championship game Tuesday at Conner.

I’m not in the mood to give the re-cap. Typical Conner/Cooper game, very physical and ended up Cooper scores just outside the box on a Pemberton direct kick in the second half. Conner just couldn’t generate any momentum in the second half towards the goal.

Well….for 76 plus minutes Boone held Ryle scoreless. Ryle had shot after shot hit the crossbar, or Courtney for Boone would make a nice save. In the second half Ryle got fouled in the box as a yellow was given to the Boone keeper. Enter the sub who was facing Josh Line for the PK, lo and behold Ryle was denied again. Eventually with just over 3 minutes left Boone fouled in the box and Diego Hoenderkamp stepped up and converted the PK to take the 1-0 lead. A minute later Ryle finds the back of the net again to secure the 2-0 lead.

The toughest district in the 9th Region start their quest to make it to the regional tournament on Sunday. These games are being played a little early due to Conner hosting and there is a field conflict I believe for either Wednesday or Thursday night. Anyway...below are the brackets: The first semi-final game has 1 seed Ryle playing 4 seed Boone County who they defeated earlier in the season 4-0. The next semi-final game as has the 2 seed Conner hosting 3 seed Cooper who Conner defeated 2-1 just a few weeks ago. This Cougar vs Jaguar battle will be intense. Last game the Cooper coach got 2 yellow cards and was shown the red card and asked to leave. Conner has been idle this week as their game verses Dixie Heights was cancelled due to weather and the game verses LaSalle (OH) was cancelled also. Cooper played Highlands who they lost to 5-0, then for some strange reason played Simon Kenton again, a game that was not scheduled but played on Friday at 5:30 in Independence. Something about this just doesn't add up and I think I know why. Predictions....Ryle over Boone 6-0. I think Ryle will press hard in the first half and try to get some subs in so they can rest their core group of players. Of course I'm going with my Cougars in the second game...Conner 1 Cooper 0. Hoping to avoid the PK shootout as I'm sure the Jaguars would love to play spoiler much like the Cougars did to them last year. Championship game....even though I bleed blue, I think Ryle wins 1-0 over Conner. They just seem to be a match up problem in the midfield for the Cougars and that is enough for them to win their 4th 33rd District title and their 8th 33rd title in the last 11 years.

Well...the end of the regular season happened today. Ryle continued to lay claim as the best team in NKY. Multiple games got cancelled on Tuesday due to the storms that rolled in. Then the oddest game that nobody is really talking about, Cooper played Simon Kenton (again) on Friday and come away with a win. A game that was not scheduled but for some strange reason Simon Kenton and Cooper agreed to play (also is not added to the sheet below). Here is the results from the 8 weeks of soccer that occurred in Northern Kentucky. My final top 10 for NKY: 1. Ryle 2 Covington Catholic 3. Newport Central Catholic 4. Highlands 5. Conner 6. Grant County 7. Cooper 8. Bishop Brossart 9. Dixie Heights 10. Campbell County

I would assume it will be as such for the 35th District: Beechwood vs Holy Cross Covington Catholic vs Holmes Beechwood beat Holy Cross 9-1 during the regular season so I would tend to lean towards a Cov Cath/Beechwood final with Cov Cath somehow winning the 35th District title for a 10th time in the last 11 years.

I found this odd...Cooper for some reason played Simon Kenton again this year. They had originally played on 8/10 with them tying 2-2, but they played this past Friday at Simon Kenton at 5:30 pm. I'm pretty sure this game was not originally scheduled, and Simon Kenton played 3 games in a row (Thr/Fri/Sat). Odd, because the Cooper coach received a red card in the Conner game. Looks like A Luckhardt (currently on the varsity roster) and A Palmer (not currently on the varsity roster) scored for the Jaguars. Any insights on why Cooper and Simon Kenton played twice in the season I'd love to hear....just seems rather odd that Cooper played this game on a Friday night after their game vs Harrison County (Senior Night) was cancelled due to weather. This game against Simon Kenton was Coopers fourth game after the red card received by their coach....we may need to bring in detective Hercule Poirot for this one.

@FrankNicodemusyou’ll be fine….they have that nice turf field with the PK spots marked on both ends.

Here it is….the NKY Coaches poll. I have to admit…Its pretty close to mine. This is from the NKHSBSCA Twitter page.

Dixie Heights vs Conner was cancelled due to lightning and impending storm.

In my opinion, 8 weeks of high school is just not enough! Crazy how fast this season has gone. Teams are entering their final week with most districts having their seeding games set, NKY teams now look to fine tune set plays and rotations for the opportunity to play in the regions. Here are some games to watch in NKY this last week of the regular season: Monday (9/25/23) Holy Cross (Covington) @ Lawrenceburg (IN) Tuesday (9/26/23) Dixie Heights @ Conner - This game can go so many ways. Dixie and Conner are very similar. Conner just beat Cooper 2-1 and earlier in the season Dixie beat Cooper 2-1. Both teams' records against common opponents are pretty even. Verses NKY competition Dixie has scored 12 and conceded 9, Conner has scored 22 and conceded 16 (Conner has played 2 more games than Dixie vs NKY teams). Conner seems to be scoring more on a regular basis but tend to give up goals due to penalties in the box. With Conner playing at home, I'm of course going for the Cougars to win this one 2-0. Other games of note for Tuesday (9/26/23) Boone County @ Beechwood Scott @ Calvary Christian (37th District Game) Pendleton County @ Campbell County (37th District Game) Ryle @ Grant County Walton-Verona @ Holy Cross (Covington) Highlands @ Simon Kenton Thursday (9/28/23) Highlands @ Cooper - Highlands has been without their leading scorer the past few games. Cooper is coming off a couple of losses to district foes, but their defense is very stingy. With Conner being idle on Thursday I might venture down to Longbranch Road and check this game out. Newport Central Catholic @ Covington Catholic - NCC makes the trip to Park Hills and bring with them one of the best win/loss records vs NKY competition. NCC has scored 31 goals and conceded 10 while the Colonels of Covington Catholic have scored 19 and conceded 6. NCC last won vs the Colonels in 2013. Cov Cath has quietly been doing what they do, play consistent strong soccer and prepare for the district and regional tournaments. I see this game being a 0-0 tie. Other games of note for Thursday: Grant County @ Beechwood Dixie Heights @ Boone County Villa Madonna @ Calvary Christian Campbell County @ Ryle Holy Cross (Covington) @ Simon Kenton Scott @ St. Henry Saturday (9/30/23) Simon Kenton @ Bishop Brossart Walton-Verona @ Campbell County Beechwood @ Covington Catholic (35th District Game) Pendleton County @ Newport Central Catholic Highlands @ St. Henry

Ryle continues to roll through the 9th Region and NKY competition. Cov Cath takes care of business and Highlands get a much-needed win vs a 9th Region foe. Conner makes a move and finish district play with a split this week. Grant County get a draw vs Cooper. Here is my NKY Top 10: 1. Ryle 2. Cov Cath 3. NCC 4. Highlands 5. Conner 6. Grant County 7. Cooper 8. Dixie Heights 9. Campbell County 10. Simon Kenton