kyag

It was a 3 point shoot out in the 1st quarter. Conner hot hand was Lohr who had it going. Campbell had a few players hit but it seemed like Sorgenfrei was their best shooter in the first half. 2nd quarter Campbell took the lead but Conner battled back and took the lead going into half. Campbell County’s hot hand in the 2nd quarter was Ayden Hamilton, kid has a nice pull up jumper. 3rd quarter Landon Hamilton and Daniel Campbell took over for Conner extending the lead to double digits. Landen Hamilton was hot behind the arc and Campbell was working the inside. Campbell County struggled finding a good flow on offense. 4th quarter Conner continued to hit open shots and Campbell had a few small moments but just couldn’t find their rhythm on offense. The Camels pulled their starters around 2 minutes left and Conner did the same around the 1 minute mark. I’m not sure how many 3’s both teams made but they were definitely taking them.

Looking at the thread from last year looks like the weather was the same this year. There was a lot of Northern Kentucky high school players in this years showcase. I know Fusion FC B07 won all 3 of their games scoring 14 and allowed 1 in the U16 group. Any updates on other Northern Kentucky teams and how they faired in this showcase?

Congratulations to all the young men listed below. 1st Team Forwards - Adam Morris (Cooper), Colin Pieper (Highlands) Midfielders - Bennett Gerak (Dixie), Tyle Smith (Brossart), Cosmin Marculeanu (Conner), Ryan Desmond (NCC), Chad Gesenhues (Highlands) Defenders - Landon Hughes (Cooper), Andrew Kohl (Dixie), Aiden Byrd (Ryle), Grey Jordan (Cov Cath) Keeper - Landon Barth (Ryle) 2nd Team Forwards - Diego Hoenderkamp (Ryle), Arif Ceylan (Walton Verona) Midfielders - Ayden Theobald (Simon Kenton), Nico Voight (Holy Cross), Alex Morris (Cooper), Cole Hubert (Cov Cath) Defenders - Daniel Campbell (Conner), James Doepker (NCC), Colin Ratcliff (Brossart), Noah Koenig (Dixie) Keeper - Mason Pemberton (Cooper), Ryan Mullen (NCC) 3rd Team Forwards - Jacob Schultz (Grant Co), Ryder Kennedy (Dixie) Midfielders - Parker Byland (Boone Co), Noah Rittinger (Campbell Co), Reed Brixey (Dixie), Cole Marsh (Ryle) Defenders - Adam Kruetzkamp (Dixie), Isaac Cardosi (Beechwood), Konnar Helton (Grant Co), Brennin Sanders (Dixie) Keeper - Trey Wagner (Conner), Nathan Kearns (Grant Co) Honorable Mention Forwards - Matt Resing (St. Henry), Carlos Marshall (Scott), Chase Nichols (Pendleton Co) Midfielders - Kaden Rose (Campbell Co), Owen Roeder (NCC), Adarsh Khullar (Highlands), Colton Anness (Holmes), Tommy Wenning (Villa) Defenders - Tanner Musgrave (Cooper), Joel Kaiser (Holy Cross), Luke Fedders (Highlands), Nathan Wigton (Simon Kenton) Keeper - Sam Kunkle (Walton Verona) For you stat guys: 8th Region Grant County - 3, Simon Kenton -2, Walton Verona - 2 9th Region Beechwood - 1, Boone - 1, Conner - 3, Cooper 5, Cov Cath - 2, Dixie - 7, Highlands - 4, Holmes - 1, Holy Cross - 2, NCC - 4, Ryle 4, St. Henry - 1, Villa Madonna - 1 10th Region Bishop Brossart - 2, Campbell - 2, Scott - 1, Pendleton County - 1

Cov Cath is streaming the games, but you have to pay for it. There is a link on Facebook for both tonight.

Well…that was an official butt whooping! Cov Cath controlled the game from the start. The colonels scored in the first 6 minutes and never looked back. In 3 games now Cov Cath has scored 22 goals, impressive. Congratulations to Conner’s seniors, though the season ended tonight for them they had a nice season. Wishing them all good luck in their future endeavors. Cov Cath plays Dixie on Thursday, good luck to both teams.

I might...my source had it the way I posted, but Beechwood does have posted they are going to Tower Park to take on your Bluebirds.

I should have posted my prediction bracket...I did have Cov Cath vs Conner in mine. I think this is the Cougars best chance for the upset. Cov Cath has scored 17 goals in their district tournament, but the Conner defense can be tough and has only given up 19 goals for the season. Maybe Cov Cath overlooks the Cougars eyeing the Dixie rematch to give payback for the 2-1 defeat on 9/20 at the hand of the "Red Colonels". Conner with the upset! Dixie in my opinion gets the best of NCC. Dixie just beat them 2-1 and I think playing at Dixie gives them all the advantage they need, if they really need one. I don't see Ryle having issues with Beechwood, but last year Ryle had to forfeit that game (win) to Beechwood due to a self-reported ineligible player. The series before last year Ryle has scored 27 goals and given up 2. Maybe another ineligible player is declared? Highlands vs St. Henry, going with Highlands. Highlands beat them 6-1 early in the year and reports from Highlands seem to be leaning towards they are playing better now than they were then. So, I'm going Conner/Dixie with unfortunately Dixie advancing. I still think my Cougars are about 2 years away, the freshman and sophomores need just a little more time to develop physically. Ryle vs Highlands with Ryle getting the win. They tied earlier in the year, but Ryle is playing really good right now. That brings us to Dixie vs Ryle and I'm going with Dixie. They have the talent and I think they are focused on completing the task this year.

Covington Catholic vs Conner Dixie Heights vs Newport Central Catholic Ryle vs Beechwood Highlands vs St. Henry

As the district tournaments come to an end tonight and we get ready for the regional tournaments, a thought crossed my mind. What if the KHSAA realigned the district/regions? What would it look like? I know this topic has probably been brought up before, but I thought it might stir some opinionated conversation about who should be where. Here are my thoughts. 33rd - Boone, Conner, Cooper, St. Henry 34th - Beechwood, Covington Catholic, Dixie Heights, Villa Madonna 35th - Calvary Christian, Holmes, Holy Cross, Scott, Simon Kenton I would move Ryle to the 32nd district/8th region with Walton Verona and Grant Counties. My reason for moving Ryle is they are the furthest south school in Boone County school system and could easily jump on Interstate 71 to play the schools in region 8 who are primarily along that route. I would then move Highlands and NCC (36th district) to the 10th region. I know this will probably never happen and I have no specific reason for wanting this happen, just thought it would be interesting if this was to occur. I always hear the current alignment is to keep schools balanced, but logistically you could have all the Campbell County schools in one region, all the Kenton County schools in one region and then Boone County would have 4 in the 9th and 2 (Ryle/Walton Verona) in the 8th. Kenton County currently has 6 in the 9th, 1 in the 8th, and 2 in the 10th, all could be changed to the 9th. I would assume that girls' soccer has something to do with the current alignment, but it's just a thought.

It was the best of times for Conner on Sunday, it was the worst of times for Conner on Tuesday. Ryle controlled this game from the start. Around the 6 minute mark Ryle starts the play off a drop ball, moves it to their left then swing it back to their right back Ryle defender passes up to the mid-fielder and continues his run to receive the ball back touches it past the Conner defender and dribbles inside to the 6 yard box Conner defenders focus on the dribbler, mid field does not drop back for Conner, Ryle player passes the ball to an open Ryle player standing just outside the 6 yard box, Ryle 1 Conner 0 Ryle scores again in the first half about 12 minutes later Conner defending the ball in their third has it deflect off their shin, Ryle player bounces on it, dribbles to the end line again Conner defense is focused on the dribbler, pass is made to player standing just on the right corner of the goal just about 8 yards from goal….Ryle 2 Conner 0 Second half Conner parents are hoping the team that played with urgency and fight from Sunday shows up, didn’t see that team Ryle again controls the game and Conner does hold without giving up another goal I was impressed by Ryle, they stay spaced on the field, understand when to make runs and kick the ball with purpose to a teammate Having seen them twice now they looked better this game than just a few weeks before If the brackets fall correctly for Ryle, wouldn’t be surprised to see a Ryle/Dixie final with Ryle looking for payback to an earlier season defeat to Dixie.

What a game…the Cougars come out with what talking heads will call an upset in the opening round of the 33rd district tournament. Conner came out with a little different lineup tonight going a little bigger in the midfield (which I think won the game for them). The first half went back and forth but Conner was doing well on the attack not really giving Cooper a lot of shot opportunities. With about 1 minute left Cooper finally got a shot off by Dawson who takes it with his left foot from about 30 yards out and drills it in the top left corner. 1-0 Cooper…no way Wagner or any EPL keeper was saving that one, best shot I’ve seen all year. Second half starts and Conner had the wind to assist them which made a difference in this game. With about 15 minutes remaining Conner gets a throw in on the Cooper side that goes to Ethan Sands who crosses it in the box to Noah Walker who heads it in the back of the net. Conner 1 Cooper 1. It would remain this way through regulation. On to overtime. Conner kicks off but Cooper now has the wind. Conner does a good job of holding them off and 1st OT ends tied. 2nd OT Conner has the wind and is pushing forward but Cooper holds. Cooper makes a final push the last 30 seconds but Conner holds and to PK’s we go. Conner is up first, kick blocked by the Cooper keeper, crowd and Cooper sideline going crazy, Conner player a little dejected but wait…the AR on the goal line has his flag up, Cooper keeper comes off his line early and Conner gets another chance. This time the shot is buried upper 90 left side 1-0 Conner. Cooper player steps up, takes the kick which the Conner keeper gets his hands on but it goes in. Cooper 1 Conner 1. This is where the 1st play of the game comes in for Conner. Conner player makes their PK shot. Cooper player approaches, takes their shot to the right and it’s blocked by Owen King of Conner. Conner 2 Cooper 1. Third and fourth set of kicks each player makes their kick, now onto the fifth set of PK’s. Conner 4 Cooper 3. Second play of the game for the Cougars…Daniel Campbell steps up, Cooper student section yelling, looks at the keeper, runs up takes the shot…Cooper keeper goes to his right Campbell’s shot goes down the middle to the back of the net. Conner 5 Cooper 3 on PK’s as they (Cooper) didn’t get to take the last one as there was no way to tie due to the missed PK on the second attempt. Conner will now play Ryle on Tuesday at 5:30 pm at Boone County. Nice season by the Jaguars, unfortunately the 33rd is the best district in the region and a good team is always left out.

Wanted to recognize the accomplishment of the Conner freshman team this year. Conner went undefeated for their regular season games going 10-1-0. The only loss occurred in the freshman tournament. Conner defeated the following teams in the regular season. Bishop Brossart, St. Henry, Covington Catholic, Highlands, Newport Central Catholic, Campbell County, Simon Kenton, Cooper, Ryle, and Dixie Heights. This group also scored 38 goals and allowed 12 with 6 shutouts. Players to keep an eye on over the next few years include: Ayden Terry, Conner List, Josh Fettig, Dallas Marshall, Benji Araujo, Grady Noble, Kellen Faulkner, Clark Peterson, Mason Ginn, Colin Davey, Owen Swaney, and Brayden Cranfield. Conner had 5 freshman who played JV and sat Varsity that did not play in these games except for the Covington Catholic game due to them being all freshman, which the 5 mentioned only played half the game as Conner had a 5-1 led at halftime of that game. The 5 freshman also did not play in the freshman tournament, if they did I’m confident Conner would have won back to back freshman championships. This by no means is saying Conner is the team to beat in 2-3 years, but with this freshman group, the 5 currently playing JV (Conner JV also had a very good season holding Cov Cath scoreless in regulation in the JV tournament and finished 15-3-2) they will have a deep squad that perhaps could be a special team for the 2024 and 2025 seasons

Well, if the game would have ended at half time Conner would’ve went home happy and Dixie would’ve been wondering how did we tie. Score at half was 0-0, Conner probably played their best half of the year. Unfortunately, there was still 40 minutes to play! Conner started the second half holding Dixie to few opportunities. But then Dixie attacks down the left side, drive to the end line and pass the ball back to the 6 yard line… 1-0 Dixie. About 2 minutes later Dixie drives down the right side…2-0 Dixie Then about a minute later a Conner player fouls a Dixie player in the box..3-0 Dixie after a converted PK I’ve seen all the teams play this year and I think Dixie is the quickest team I’ve seen. It only took them about 6 minutes to put 3 balls in the back of the net. I think on a neutral field Dixie is going to be hard to beat this year in the 9th region Conner now plays Cooper at Boone County on Sunday at 5pm. The game was moved to Sunday due to light problems Boone County has been experiencing the past few games.

I don’t think anything I could type would make me feel better about this game. Elder scores first about 6 minutes in then score again around the 35 minute mark. Conner adds to their misery by an own goal to end the half, 3-0. Conner did play better the second half but just couldn’t connect any shots on goal. On a side note, this will be the last season for grass at the Panther Athletic Center as they are getting turf for next year. It is a nice venue that sits on top of the hill. Conner plays Dixie on Tuesday at Dixie for their senior night and then back home in Hebron on Thursday vs George Rogers Clark. Would be nice to end on a winning note Thursday heading into districts vs Cooper next week.

Good game tonight in Union. Conner had a great chance to score early with a shot by Cosmin Marculeanu hitting off the cross bar. Ryle scores a few minutes later to take a 1-0 lead. The game had momentum flow in the second half. At one point Ryle had the ball pressing in the Conner defensive third for a good 6-8 minutes but could not find the back of the net. Conner then starts to attack and had one good chance at scoring with about 5 minutes left but the ball goes just wide of goal on the right side. Ryle holds on for the 1-0 victory. So, Ryle will play Boone and Cooper will play Conner in the 33rd District tournament at Boone County high school. .

I’m not aware of any state and national rankings for JV teams. Varsity yes, JV…usually rankings are just made up by us parents for JV.

Boone County is my understanding.

Well…once again Conner fails to generate offense in the attacking third. The Holy Cross midfield won the 1st half and had a great opportunity to score in a breakaway, but the shot goes wide left and the half ends 0-0 Conner showed some more urgency in the second half and won more of the midfield, but again could not connect passes and failed to generate any real threats of a scoring opportunity. With 30 seconds left, a Conner player is fouled at the 40 yard line in the middle of the field. Daniel Campbell takes the kick and sends it into the box, the Holy Cross keeper misplays the ball, it drops in front of him and a Conner attacker sends the ball to the back of the net. Conner players and fans going crazy….but wait. The center ref calls a handball on Conner, no goal and the Cougars get the draw, but felt more like a loss. Conner plays Ryle on Thursday, could be a long night if the Cougars can’t find a way to get the ball in the back of the net.

I went to this game. Grant County really packs it in. Ryle had the ball in Grant County's back third pretty much the entire first half. I enjoyed listening to the GC keeper Kearns yell instructions to the players on the field. Ryle had a few good opportunities to score, but either shot over the goal or wide of it. Second half was pretty much like the first. Ryle finally got a through ball from an attacking player that had dribbled down to the end line and then passed it back to the 6 yard box and the Ryle player following finished it to the back of the net. Ryle scored with 22 minutes left in the game, so Grant County was really packing it in, but when you are able to pressure that much, stuff happens. About 4 minutes later the Grant County defender on the right side fouled a Ryle player in the box and the PK was converted. I left after that as I had seen enough. Ryle did a good job pressing up, controlling the ball, but took a number of questionable shots from the outside. Maybe the Raiders were trying to pass the ball across, but they ended up in the keeper hands multiple times. Grant County had a game plan...which I'm assuming they have used all year long. The HC for Grant County in the second half yelled out to his attacking player at one time "this is what we talked about, we aren't going to get a lot of chances". He stated that after Grant County had played the ball forward for one of their few chances to attack the back line of the Raiders. Grant County knows who they are and accept that they have to take advantage of their opportunities, which looking at their record they must do well. The Raider keeper (Barth) is like a director in their back field. He was constantly giving direction and was very engaged with his team even though he saw little to no shots taken on him. Looking forward to the Cooper vs Ryle game on Tuesday and then Conner vs Ryle on Thursday.

Cooper defeats Bishop Brossart and Beechwood defeats Ryle.

Covington Catholic advances on PK shootout 5-4 vs Conner. Very competitive game, only gripe I have is this game only had one ref to start and 2 for the whole game. If the NKBSCAA is going to do a tournament like this (and I’m thankful that they do) let’s have 3 refs for each game. The young men deserve it.

Ryle and Beechwood advance. Cooper advances to play Brossart Boone gets the bye and advances to play I’m assuming Holy Cross. Conner/Cov Cath winner plays Boone/Holy Cross winner. Cooper/Brossart winner plays Ryle/Beechwood winner. All 4 33rd district teams advance with Boone doing so via the bye.

Conner and Cov Cath advance to play each other at 9am Saturday morning.

It was Adam

The Cooper Jaguars win the battle of the cats against the Cougars of Conner. Conner struggled in the midfield to control the pitch and had no success when attacking down the middle. Cooper scores early with a goal by A Morris. After the early score Cooper kept the pressure up but couldn’t find another one against Owen King, half ends Cooper 1 Conner 0. Cooper starts the 2nd half with the ball and quickly go down into the Conner back third and get their second goal of the night by M Pemberton. After this goal Conner Owen King gets switched out due to a leg cramp and Trey Wagner comes in and makes a number of nice saves to keep the game Cooper 2 Conner 0. Conner again struggled to get the ball in the attacking third and couldn’t control the midfield. Having seen most of the 9th region now, Coopers offense looked very well connected and moved the ball well. As a typical 33rd district match goes there were a number of yellow cards given to players on both sides and the Cooper bench received an early one. Overall I thought the game was officiated well and the center ref let them play physical but cleanly. Conner has Holy Cross at home, district game at Ryle and then travel to Pit of Elder on Saturday. I know Cooper has Ryle on Tuesday which game should determine who gets Conner in the district game.