Sir!

OK... last homage to CovCath scheduling. Brilliant to get the boys a break from schedule grind with no game on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend at the end of the first 3 weeks of the season.

Good luck the next couple weeks Colonels, it'll be a hard stretch.

At the end of season (or a couple of weeks) it looks like strength of schedule will not even be close, probably not a team in NKY comes anywhere close to playing CCH's strength of schedule.

#2 (in Cincy) Summit.

@#4 Trinity

@ #8 ( in Cincy) Anderson

#8 Madison Central

@#11 (in Cincy) Elder

@ #14 Ballard

@ #16 Highlands

#19 Cooper

@ #20 Ryle

@ #24 (in Cincy) 7 Hills

@ #25 (in Cincy) Walnut Hills

@ # 27 (in Cincy) McNicholas

The number of away games is impressive and Maher will reward good results on the road.

Also impressive is the number of high quality away games without having to travel to East Bumbletown. I have no doubt it's easier to schedule when you are defending state champs, but still... nice job.

A strong schedule prepares a team for the post-season and CovCath's schedule looks fantastic. The only potential downside is playing so many hard games with just a one day rest between games week after week. But here again, CovCath is on top of it. Last year they only played 19 regular season games and had a 9-day break between their last game of the regular season and first game of post-season (a post season that lasted 9 games!). This year CovCath plays just 2 games per week during the final two weeks of the regular season with no games the final two Saturdays. This ensures the team has a chance to recover a bit and is at its optimal heading into post-season. 2015 and 2016 took two slightly different approaches to scheduling, but both address the same issues of periodization, work load, and recovery periods to put the team in a good position to do well. Credit to CovCath's coaching staff for balancing the demands of high school soccer with the needs of high school athletes bodies. It is.difficult and requires some thought and proactivity.

GPD- Being shorthanded last night (and for a couple of matches) definitely doesn't help, having to move people around also impacted the midfield and their substitution pattern.

 

Who's to say if it played a role in the outcome, I know that I feel better about the Jags chances if they were on the field and some others were also at 100%.

I can think of at least one who will be back for the St Henry game who makes a big difference.

Nvm.

No-one is arguing you shouldn't finish a game in one half if it is a complete mismatch. All that was raised is the manner in which you do it. Some would put in the ten goals required to end the game and others might allow their team to score more. All up to coaching style and objectives. Sorry if I offended anyone. Peace out.

Has nothing to do with the professionalism of the coach. That is the politically correct answer. It is not a coaches job to worry about how to help the other team. Most coaches focus on their team as they should. I would suspect many coaches want to go home and get those games over as quick as possible. It is a lose-lose situation because if you play your JV team in a game like that and win 4-0 the yappi heads come and question the coach. Find something positive to talk about like Highlands playing West Jess this weekend or NDA and SK heading to Zionsville. SMH!

It's not about helping the other team. It's about developing your players as people to understand compassion, empathy, alternative approaches to solve problems. If ithat s outside a coach's wheelhouse so be it. Good luck in Zionsville.

Everyone has a different way of handling these games when some starters don't even start and maybe play 15 minutes and get stats or you play your full roster moving kids around. For both teams it is a mandated district game. No one complained when Tierney from NDA scored 4 goals v HC or Sherrard has 7 of her 9 goals in the 3 mercy rule games. That is what good players do they stand out. A coaches job is not to figure out how to waste time, etc. I don't see any benefit to these games but schools are mandated to play them and for kids that get kicked all season they enjoy a fun night of soccer. The Highlands score is not even the worst blow out of the season. 16-0 was what I found. It happens, I saw a score from Indiana that was 22-0. Some teams have the luxury of having 29 girls on their varsity roster like assumption and others do not. Trust me most of the good players do not like these games either but you take the bad with the good.

Wasting time... it's a 20 minute game in which you get to score 10 goals. You do possession activities in training for more than 20 minutes.

Not enough players to spread the 20 minutes around... bring up some JV players.

Mandated District game... others have worked that out. Covington Catholic doesn't play a single game against a team in its District. Just requires a supportive AD and the ability to work well with others to craft win-win solutions. Clearly it can be done.

"For kids that get kicked all season they enjoy a fun night of soccer".. what are you even saying? Are you saying it's a nice break to be able to go by opponents without being touched. Maybe fun for the team delivering the stomping, but probably not much fun to be on the receiving end. If piling up stats is fun then yup... it's fun.

"good players do not like these games either but you take the good with the bad." ... are these the same girls enjoying a fun night of soccer? Yeah it really stinks to bag 4 or 5 goals. And the girls on the losing end... I guess they just feel privileged to have seen some great soccer. What is the antonym of empathy?

NDA has won their three Mercy rule games by scores of 10-0, 10-0 and 11-0. Seems like they are doing a reasonable job getting the game ended with the least bloodshed required. And yes, you can always find someone who is a worse offender. IMO the number of goals scored beyond 10 is inversely proportional to the professionalism of the coach.

Nvm.

Rec soccer has blow-out policies that give guidance to coaches on how to handle extreme mismatches and still get something positive out of the game. Is 10 goals in 20 minutes really not enough? #padstats

Expecting two tough matches that weekend, also playing South Warren the same day.

I'm not a fan of two games in one day for kids this old. When it's rough-and-tumble hs soccer it's worse. When you start the day with South Warren... good luck, bring ice.

Well good for him but it's the teams that jump on every mistake they can find from the refs and every loophole they can think of to try and game the system.

 

If you pay close attention in the MLS red cards get overturned every once and awhile because the wrong terminology is used on the game report.

Relax. I think the refs do a fine job in our area. And I'll absolutely take them over the host of would-be refs in the stands and most in the technical area. Like Shankly, I just enjoy stirring the pot from time to time. Regarding off-sides he quipped "if a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage then he should be." He was just having fun. Me too.

Liverpool'a iconic nanager Bill Shankly famously said: "The trouble with referees is they know the rules but don't know the game." I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, but if the shoe fits...

One PK for a knock down in box, call could have went either way and second goal was a rebound off a South Warren free kick, game was an absolute battle.

How far into the game did Fahrudin Dervisevic get red carded? What hapoened? Any bearing on outcome? I would think when probably the best player on the other team gets tossed it's noteworthy in the storyline of the gsme. No?

The most entertaining game in WKY last night might have been Calloway Co against Graves Co, this match ended up being an 8-7 win for the Lakers.

2 point conversion to seal the win?

He got "all ball" and a foul was still called and a card given? Wait for it...

Brossart has scored in each 80-minute match it has played and lost 3 games by just 1 goal. A respite in the schedule gives them a chance to put a couple W on the board and improve morale. Good luck Mustangs... persevere!

Colton Schneider and Adam Clark were scoring threats for the Camels and Grant Perkins did a nice job (and a lot of work) in the midfield.

Birds put together a great complete game effort to beat a strong Campbell County side. Two sophomore JV players (Mike Penrod and Tom Kelso) play key minutes for Steppe and Browe (both out for a couple games with injuries). Nick Gish gets the game winner and Solomon Farris puts in an insurance goal late.

Frosh rolled 5-1 and JV won 2-0 for the sweep.

I'd rather see them use the old shoot out.

 

Goalie/Attacker 1:1

Start at line and top of the arc on the penalty box(I think that's where they start - close enough).

Attacker gets 1 shot and ____ seconds to take the shot.

Attacker and goalie allowed to move on the whistle blow.

 

Not sure when it changed, but that's the way it was "back in the day".

 

Much more entertaining

The shootout, I believe, was one of the "fixes" the NASL tried (along with moving off-sides to the 35 yard line). Another approach looked at involved taking one field player off from each team for every 5 minutes of OT that the game stayed tied. Yet another was after overtime giving the match to the team that had more corners. If more corners correlates with more offense/attack, that rewards the team that attacked more. All interesting, I guess. Best option... just close it out during regulation.

I'd agree that both teams lost a lost a lot from last year but I think Elder lost more than CCH. I saw both Sabato and Bryce Day in action yesterday for NKU and I'd have to say that Day looked more comfortable out there than Sabato did. I find it curious that both players, who are natural attacking players, were slotted at outside back for NKU. Day has done his share of defending in the past and did well yesterday. No knock on Sabato but I'd guess that he's not played much defender in the past, if ever.

Bryce looked better than Joey in the NKU v UK game as well. Interesting if they are trying him at outside back - might be a good sign that they're trying to find a spot for him sooner rather than later. Best of luck to the young man.

Both Elder and CCH lost a lot of talent last year, but both reload well. D-1 Cincinnati coaches poll has Elder at #10. Elder's Maher rating dropped almost 1/2 point after their first two games (1-0 win over Oak Hills and a 3-1 loss to Sycamore). CCH remains #1 in the NKY coaches poll and has only seen a 1/10th point drop in its Maher rating. Based on 8/27 Maher ratings, CCH would be a slight favorite on a neutral field and Elder a slight favorite playing at Elder. I think it either ends in a 1-1 tie or a 2-1 win for CCH.

Side-note... it was fun last Sunday to see both Bryce Day and Joey Sabato playing for NKU in the scrimmage against UK. Both at the #7 position. Neat to see kids get a chance to keep playing at a high level.

South Warren has arguably one of the best players in the state. I'd expect to continue to see them do reasonably well.

Interesting. 2-2 at end of regulation not a shock, both teams have shown they will give up goals but still thought St Henry would out score NCC.

Not surprised NCC wins in PKs. What was the final PK count?

Good luck to NCC in your next All A game, keep it going.

Just curious. Why "not surprised" NCC wins in PKs? Did you think they'd have the superior goalie, or superior spot kickers, or just that if NCC was going to win it would have to be by PKs. Again, just curious as to why "not a surprise."