wideright

These games are being played at Tower Park in Ft. Thomas at Highland's field.

7 per their pictures on Facebook.

Saturday night will be an entertaining game. I don't know who will win, but I do know that the fried Oreos will be 3 for $1 at the concession stand. Congratulations to the Crusaders and the Pandas for reaching the final. May the best team win and tear into the state tournament starting the following week.

Dixie Heights evens the score with 25 seconds left in regulation on a Carson Smith goal. DHHS wins in kicks 3-1 with the keeper Lily Paganetto stopping 2 of the 4 Ryle shots. Next up is a rematch with Notre Dame at Dixie Heights on Wednesday in the 5:30 game. Congratulations Lady Colonels!

Full 9th Region is now posted: 2

Ryle gets Dixie on Monday night.

Outcoached in not requiring long stud soft ground cleats, or perhaps flippers for his players? St H definately started the game with higher energy, and that proved the difference.

The ref's first mistake was announcing to the timekeeper before the game started that the game would go from regulation straight to kicks if it was tied after 80 minutes. No overtime periods.

Dixie vs. Hamilton, OH -> 3-3 draw Highlands vs. W. Clermont, OH -> 2-1 Highlands Notre Dame vs. W. Jessamine -> 1-0 West J on a PK

Friday 8/11 5:00pm Villa Madonna vs. Pendleton County 6:30pm Boone County vs Newport Central Catholic 8:00pm Simon Kenton vs. St. Henry Saturday 8/12 8:00am Cooper vs. Dayton 9:30am Scott vs. Walton Verona 11:00am Ryle vs. Campbell County 12:30pm Beechwood vs. Bishop Brossart 5:00pm Dixie vs. Hamilton, OH 6:30pm Highlands vs. W. Clermont, OH 8:00pm Notre Dame vs. W. Jessamine Matches are 2, 40 minute halves, 5 minute half time. No Overtime. Tickets: $5 / adult, $3 / child. A weekend pass for all games is $7.

Oldbird, I know this is a year old but it is still hysterical. I'm still wiping tears from my eyes from laughing so hard! Thank you for laugh!

Slightly related topic, any of those excellent photographers at the game get a good shot of all of the Regional Tournament winners at the end of the game? With all of the pro photographers on the field, the amateur parents in the stands couldn't get a group shot. Anyone willing to post one like the group photo from last year: http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-girls-soccer/notre-dame-3-314506.html#post5698245 Thank you in advance. I want to again add that the game demonstrated why these two teams were playing Saturday night. They were an excellent example of two well coached, highly prepared, very skilled teams leaving it all on the field. There was a ton of individual talent on that field yet they blended into two excellent teams. The rest of us in the 9th know it isn't going to get any easier on us next year either. Congratulations to both teams.

Bothways, I will assume Truthwilliams55 was talking about an offsides call on Highlands late in the game where they scored on the play but it was waved off. I was standing on the path at that end of the field, but 10-15 yards from "the line". I can't say positively either way whether it was a good call or not. My gut at the time was that the striker was on. It was close and it was a great through ball. Full disclosure: I wasn't there rooting either side, but rooting for an excellent 9th Region final -- and NDA vs HHS delivered. Both of these programs make girls soccer in the entire area much better. Congratulations to Highlands on a great season. Congratulations, and best wishes to Notre Dame on winning State!

9th Region just updated on KHSAA. CCH and NCC at DHHS at Tuesday 7:30pm. 2

Scott High School still has the soccer only grass field in front of the football/mix use turf field, named after the young man who passed away practicing on the field. Cameron Kelly Batson Field: Field Named for Cameron | Cameron's Cause Beechwood now has a turf soccer/baseball field separate from their football stadium. I was told it was new for this soccer season. At Dixie Heights, there is a "grass" practice field next to the turf football/soccer field that is used by all the teams when they need to practice and they do not have the turf scheduled. The grass baseball outfield has also been used by soccer as well.

Now that is FUNNY!!!!

From Josh Moore of the Lexington Herald-Leader/Kentucky.com covering the games: https://twitter.com/HLpreps Sacred Heart leads Bethlehem 4-0 Mr. Moore has many video clips of the goals and other notable highlights from the games.

From the Cov Cath / Fern Creek thread. Thanks colonel-fan!

That is an awesome picture. Your gear weatherproof or do you have someone with an umbrella next to you? I don't even begin to take the bag out of the car if it's drizzling, let alone rain of biblical proportions. Thanks for sharing.

Solution: Go to Lexington dressed in your costume on Saturday. Go to Kroger and buy bags of 1/2 price candy on Sunday! Good luck Blue Colonels.

When you are on the opposite side of the bracket! Good luck Blue Colonels. That's best wishes, not fat chance to be clear.

For what it's worth I was told that for Thursday evening, that the Dixie Marching Band moved their practice over to Scott HS in order to make available more parking on campus. Thank you to the band and band parents. At Dixie, they are as much a "varsity sport" as the rest.

OTB, They taste better then they smell. Three for $1. Don't wait for the end of the game to get you some. I will submit that the Dixie concession stand is the finest in the 9th District, if not this side of Lake Cumberland. Hats off to the Dixie Band Boosters who run it. Ryle earned the win, no doubt about it. Dixie definitely did not go "9 in the box" and hang on for kicks. Dixie Keeper Yeager kept his team in the game. Ryle keeper not tested as much, but played no less important role to his team. One yellow card issued to a Ryle captain I believe (sorry no names), that I believe was more of a ref attempt to keep the game calm than a "well deserved" card. No parents thrown out, a great, reasonably large crowd for a soccer match. Which ever team is crowned the 9th District Champ would have earned it. Congratulations in advance to the winner, to either the Colonels of Covington Catholic or the Raiders of Ryle. Here's to a great game Saturday afternoon, and seeing either of these teams in Lexington on November 7.

Mr. Bryan, "I ADMIT I cost keepers save sometimes." We can certainly agree that you can "run up the save tally" and never win a game. Having played defender, and raising a house full of sweepers and a keeper, I'd love to officially instantiate the metric of "Blown Scoring Opportunity". A keeper or a defense makes 1 mistake, it can lead directly to a goal and a loss. The Dixie/Ryle game had 3 of those (2 PK's and a real close direct kick on a hard tackle). On the striker side, miss an open goal to score (perhaps kick a football field goal), and they slap their hands, say "oh shucks", and prepare for the ensuing goal kick. There were a handful of open/near open goal attempts in the last 10 minutes last's game as well that could have won it for Dixie or buried it for Ryle. Maybe I'm just a little off topic now. So I believe the NCAA put out that guideline to try and take the subjectivity out of crediting a keeper with a save. But as you rightly point out, not all saves are equal. What would be worth more, 5 saves by either the Ryle or Dixie keepers, or say a Notre Dame keeper credited with 10 saves playing anyone else in the 35th district because all the opponent can do is play the ball in from 30 yards out due to NDA's stout defense?

The NCAA defines what they consider a save: SECTION 6—GOALKEEPING Article 1. A save is awarded to a goalkeeper only if a shot otherwise would have gone into the goal. A goalkeeper can be credited with a save without catching the ball. If the goalkeeper blocks the ball or punches it wide or over the goal, that goalkeeper can be credited with a save, provided the ball would have otherwise gone into the goal. To receive a save, the play must be a shot on goal. A goalkeeper cannot receive credit for a save on a cross. (See exception in Section 3, Article 2.) Source: http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/Stats_Manuals/Soccer/2009ez.pdf Per the above definition, most of Nathaniel Bryan's examples could or should be credited as saves. But I do agree with his sentiment that sometimes the number of saves doesn't tell the real story (I love the wolves comment). It doesn't describe "quality" shots. But this puts you on a slippery slope from a keeper's perspective. Take this situation, for example: Catching a ball coming right at you with little effort is NOT a save. If the keeper bobbles one of these and it crosses the goal line within the frame, is it not a goal? That's why it is a save, especially on a tore up grass field where the ball can take a crazy, unexpected bounce. Additionally, keepers will tell you they made the save look like "with little effort" because they were in the right position. Keeper trainers will repeatedly tell you to make the easy save, not to make it more complicated for fear of not actually making the save.