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Well…better than last year but still a L. Conner had a chance to score in the 1st 15 seconds and just miss the goal. I thought Conner was the more aggressive team limiting Cov Cath’s chances in the 1st half. Cov Cath gets a call in the box (no comment from me about the call). I believe it was Leach who converted the PK. Cov Cath holds on to the 1-0 lead at half. 2nd half Cov Cath controlled the game. Conner tried to play long ball and the Cougars couldn’t get anything past the Cov Cath’s center backs. Cov Cath has some nice pieces and played a good controlled game of futbol. Conner got tired in the mid-field and just couldn’t connect on passes to the outside.

My apologies to the Dixie Heights and Bishop Brossart fans…I totally missed this game on the KHSAA site. This probably is the best matchup Tuesday night happening in Alexandria. If Conner/Cov Cath wasn’t playing I would’ve probably made the trip east to see this game tonight.

Well...he did help coach me in high school so that could've happened.

Good catch...I played with Noel so I think it was a Freudian slip. Jeremy is the Senior on this years Conner team and not his senior father. Geez...I'm old!

The season officially begins on Monday in the state of Kentucky, but most of the NKY teams start on Tuesday. Looking at KHSAA/Riherds scoreboard, these are some of the games to watch in my opinion in the NKY region. Conner at Covington Catholic (8/8/23). They Cougars make the trip to Park Hills to take on the Colonels. Last year in the opening round of the region Conner got the ole butt whoppin...0-5. Conner comes in being led by the senior trio of Noah Walker, Noel Alig, and Owen King. The defense is young having two sophomores (Mason Ginn and Kellen Faulkner) as center backs who are flanked by two seniors in Ethan Davey and Andrew Toler. Conner had problems scoring last year but can the attacking duo of Grady Noble and Mason Arevalo find the back of the net this year? Coach Walker has two goalies to choose from with Trey Wagner and Owen King. Covington Catholic returns Andrew Roland and Aiden Leach who combined for 23 goals last year. Cole Hubert and Tanner Robertson return also to help in the midfield and backline. Goalies Lucas Short and Auggie Eilerman will battle for the man in the box. NCC at Simon Kenton (8/8/23). I'm hearing the Pioneers are looking tough. I saw NCC firsthand at Soccerama and thought they had good size down the middle of the field. Heading into Thursday I think both games to watch come out of the 33rd District. Bishop Brossart at Conner (8/10/23). Last year I believed the Cougars avoided a loss due to weather in Alexandria. The Mustangs had a good season and return a senior group who are looking to continue their winning ways from last year. Conner has to be ready and cannot overlook this game focusing on their matchup at Highlands next Tuesday. Simon Kenton at Cooper (8/10/23). Are the Pioneers looking to revenge their 4-1 loss last year to the Jaguars? Nothing would make the Blue & White faithful happier than driving home from Union with a W under their belt. Depending how Tuesday goes, the Jaguars maybe clawing to find a win on Thursday. Other NKY games to note the opening week: Holy Cross (Covington) at Boone County (8/8/23) Campbell County at Calvery Christian (8/8/23) Scott at Highlands (8/8/23) Holmes at Mason County (8/8/23) Beechwood at Highlands (8/10/23) Ryle vs Fredrick Douglas (8/11/23 FCPS Soccer Showcase) Dixie Heights at Lafayette (8/11/23) Dixie Heights vs Fredrick Douglas (8/12/23 FCPS Soccer Showcase) Ryle vs Henry Clay (8/12/23 FCPS Soccer Showcase) Walton Verona at Campbell County (8/12/23) NCC at Boone County (8/12/23) Cooper at Madison Central (8/12/23) St. Henry at Simon Kenton (8/12/23) Scott at Pendleton County (8/12/23) Covington Catholic at Trinity (8/12/23)

As far as I know that is correct. Beechwood controlled the game vs Walton. I think Beechwood could've scored 1-2 more but the ball ended up sailing over the goal and through the uprights a couple of times. NCC scores off a throw-in that was mis-played by the young Cougar defense and NCC scores with a nice finish from the right side of the goal. Conner had a few chances in the 1st half to tie it but couldn't convert. 2nd half, I think the game was pretty evenly played. Conner had a few chances again, but NCC held. NCC went to the bench earlier than Conner did and the young Thoroughbred players held their own. Conner subbed out their seniors, but with about 30 seconds left on a corner a couple of seniors are subbed back in and Conner scores off a header with 19 seconds remaining to tie the game. I heard Dixie JV beat Boone County 1-0 on Monday and I was wondering about the SK/Brossart game so thanks for updating @2 much info.

Holmes has a really nice venue for games. I really liked how they have BULLDOGS shades across the field. Cooper/Dixie Heights - Cooper s obviously a different team from last year as is Dixie, but Dixie was by far the better team. Ryle/Highlands - I don’t believe Ryle had all 11 starters on the field. Highlands looked ready and have good size down the middle of the field. Highlands was the more physical team it seemed to me. If you don’t know…Ryle has some speed on their team.

St. Henry and Pendleton County was the only game played yesterday. I wasn't there but I know St. Henry got the win. Holmes/Villa Madonna and Simon Kenton/Bishop Brossart have both been moved to Monday night. Boone vs Scott game has been canceled for Friday. The other game times that have been changed are posted on an earlier comment in this thread.

Conner played McCracken County and I was impressed with MCHS. They have size, move the ball well, have quality players on the bench and have 2 players (#2 and #20) who are difference makers.

Looks like we are getting closer to the Boys 2023 soccer season starting. Below is the link for the varsity teams participating in this years event in Lexington KY at Masterson Park. https://bgsg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2023-BGSG-Boys-Varsity-A-v2.pdf

A few changes on the Kings Hammer side, but a majority of these boys played in the 1st round last year that went to a PK shootout with Fusion winning 5-4. Should be another good game.

Man... nothing from the members on this? I thought for sure I'd get a couple of details from some other members who had kids playing in the boys showcase this week. Anyway...Here is an update on the Fusion B07 Green team. The men in green won their 1st game vs Pacesetter soccer club out of Sylvania Ohio 1-0. Fusion scores in the second half off a tap in by Carson Baldock (St. Henry). This was a very controlled game by Fusion who spaced the field very well. Second game Fusion played Star SC Hotshots from Cincinnati. The Hotshots had good size and speed which created some problems for the men in green. Fusion did score 1st and carried a 1-0 lead into half. Second half saw Star SC Hotshots come out very aggressive and were able to take advantages on some missed defensive assignments and pull away for a 3-1 win. I was impressed with the Hotshots and thought they controlled the game in the second half. Third game Fusion played Ohio Premier Futbol Club (OPFC). OPFC came into the game having given up zero goals and had previously beat both Pacesetter and Star SC Hotshots. This was a very tall team with a strong midfield and probably the tallest center back I've seen...guessing he was close to 6'4". Fusion scored first from a header by Carson Baldock and held that going into half. Shortly after half time, mother nature decided to send in the clouds, the rain, and finally hail! Game was postponed for about 15 minutes then resumed. OPFC made some nice connections and got a goal to sneak past to tie the game 1-1. About 10 minutes go by and Mason Ginn connects a pass to Grady Noble who gets past the left back and keeper to tap it in to put Fusion ahead 2-1. Fusion holds on to win the game.

I’d be interested to hear how some of the local NKY teams do or did in this weekends Kings Hammer Blue Chip Showcase in Mason Ohio.

NCC had a good group of seniors last year. I will be interested to see how they do with a younger team. Conner returns a few starters from last year, but Conner has to find a way to score this year. The defense has a chance of being led by to sophomore center backs who will make mistakes early in the season but should be ready at the end.

Let the discussion begin….

Fusion FC B07 Green played up in the U17 bracket and bring home the hardware. They scored 6 goals and gave up 2 in their bracket and win the championship game 3-0 vs Fairfield Optimist Soccer Club B06. Nice weather weekend for soccer, but got a little cold, windy, and wet for championship Sunday.

I disagree. Complaining about the ref’s is blaming them for a loss, stating they were terrible, saying calls were not made on purpose, and they favored one team over another...which I don’t think happened. I thought the game was officiated evenly. The ref’s let them play, it was physical which tends to go against Conner as they are not a defensively physical team. There is always missed calls, missed shots, unforced turnovers, that’s part of the game. I saw the grabs, the ref’s didn’t think it impacted the player so be it. I agree with you Breds82, keep doing it until they call it. If they don’t call it…it ain’t a foul, just part of the game. Grabs and holds happen. This one happened right in front of the ref and it was a no call, but it (the grab/holding the arm) did end up impacting the game cause the player (Lohr) was injured because of it..I don’t think the Copper player was trying to hurt Lohr either, but the grab was intentional. I probably could’ve worded it better but I’m really not blaming the ref’s….Conner had chances and didn’t convert them and Cooper did. We’ll just have to agree to disagree on what we personally think blaming the ref is.

Very physical game, Sullivan knows how to teach defense. All the Cooper kids use their chest very well to push players and keep their hands up to avoid drawing fouls. Conner shot well in the 1st half with Kramer leading the way and Campbell leading the scoring column n the 1st quarter. Lohr had a few open looks but wasn’t hitting. Pouncy gave problems to Conner and Conner went to a zone at times and used Ben Fay more to match the size instead of the strength of Reese. 2nd half was a battle. In my opinion the difference in the game was Lorh getting hurt while coming off screens and having his left arm pulled multiple times by the Cooper defender. I was sitting pretty close and saw the grabs, the ref’s didn’t call it so no foul. I’d done the same thing back in the day….I’m not complaining about the ref’s but there was a lot of grabbing. Lohr goes out in the 3rd with 0 points and no shot attempts in the quarter. Conner only used 2 subs which Cooper used at least 4 and I think towards the end of the game it showed on shots being short for Conner. 4th quarter Lohr tries to come back in favoring his left arm. He rubs off a screen and the Cooper defender grabs his arm pulling it back and that was it…Lohr goes to the bench and his night was over, 0 points. That in my unbiased observation was a huge loss for Conner and impacted the outcome. Conner had a lead with 2:50 left, run the clock down to 1;50 and turn it over. Cooper scores, Conner has another chance and Cooper stops them again to score and tie it. Conner gets the ball with 30+ seconds, Coach Otte decides to not call a time out…Conner runs the clock down to about 15 seconds and I’m thinking ok Otte is going to call a timeout…nope. Landon Hamilton has the ball drives with about 8 seconds left, takes a contested shot which I believe was partially blocked Cooper ball time out. Cooper comes back out bounds the ball on the ball to Cooper player in front of Conner’s bench, Hamilton is there to take the contact, no call ball bounces off Cooper player Conner ball with 2 seconds left. Hamilton inbounds the ball to Campbell cuts right towards center half receives the ball, 2 Cooper players converge towards Hamilton…Shot, horn, everyone standing….ball bounces off the back iron, overtime it is. In overtime I thought Cooper made the plays and Conner didn’t. Towards the end of overtime, Cooper is on the line for 2, miss the first and make the second. Conner needs a 3 to tie, ball inbounded to Hamilton and Cooper fouls him to go to the line for 2. Hamilton makes the 1st and misses the second on purpose, Cooper gets the rebound and makes the next 2….game over. Conner’s quest for four falls short and now they await a winner from another district. Congratulations to Cooper, they are going to be a tough out in the region this year and for the next 2 for sure.

No because Conner never led by 26 points like Holy Cross. Conner wins the 1st half with ball movement and fast break points. Second half Conner struggled scoring and Lloyd kept it close. Israel was the difference for Lloyd hitting big shots and Lloyd did a good job fighting over screens and not giving Conner open looks. Lloyd wins the 2nd half and OT out scoring Conner in the 3rd, 4th and OT quarters. Game was tied with 14 seconds left in regulation, Coach Otte decided not to call a time out and Lloyd’s defense holds with a block on Hamiltons shot attempt. Lloyd takes the lead in OT, Conner battles back and gains the lead. Kramer steals the ball and instead of pulling it out he goes up against 2 Lloyd players, slips turns the ball over and Lloyd never looks back. That would be the last lead for Conner. Conner had a chance to tie with two failed 3 point attempts with the last being blocked by Lloyd again. Hamilton and Campbell played well with Campbell doing a nice defensive job on Walker. Kramer and Lohr seemed to have off nights even though Lohr had a big 3 in OT but couldn’t really get much going tonight. Llyod slowed the game down and when needed scored. Walker and Israel stepped up, congratulations to the Juggernauts. Conner now will prepare for the winner of Ryle and Heritage and more than likely will play Cooper in the championship game looking to secures Conner 4th district title in a row (which I believe has never been accomplished by any 33rd district team).

Best shooting night of the year for Conner. Highlands just let them have open 3 after open 3. Conner at one point in the 1st half was 12 of 15 from 3. Crazy. Conner is playing well. Statement win vs Mason County last week and a warning to the 9th that on any given night Conner can light you up.

Wow….Conner started fast and never looked back. 3’s where falling all over for Conner, defense for Conner was spot on and by the end of the 1st half we have a running clock to start the 2nd half. Nice win for the Cougars. Next week Conner has NCC and Lloyd and then get ready for district play.

Final Conner 86 Highlands 52 I missed my pre-game prediction score by a couple but no big deal the Cougars take the CAKE!

Coach Otto pulls the starters with 3 minutes to go.

Student section leaving for Highlands…very quiet in Fort Thomas tonight.

End of 3 Conner 76 Highlands 38