2 much info

19 hours ago, NKYSPORTS GUY said:

Now that Soccerama is completed, any surprises moving into the regular season? Good or Bad? 

I thought the Brossart and SK match up was a good one. Both teams seem to have quite a bit of talent this season. 

Are we sure that it was Dixie's JV team playing Boone? With what Dixie lost last season, I figured they might have quite a big drop off this fall. 

I did not get to see the Highlands/Ryle or CCH/Campbell game. Are these 3 9th region teams the heavy favorites going into August?

This is how I would rank the top of the 9th today with intra-tier rankings:

Tier 1: A) Ryle, B) Highlands

Tier 2: A) Dixie, B) CCH, C) NCC, D)Conner

Tier 3: E) Cooper

Beechwood 2-0 Walton

Conner 1-1 NCC

Villa 1-0 Holmes

SK 2-2 Brossart

Some additional results. Please correct if I am wrong.

We’re matches played last night or cancelled due to weather?

if played, does anyone have access to score lines?

I know Dean has had interest in the past and has some coaching experience - initial thoughts are he would be a great fit for the program. Like mentioned in other threads, if all the talent comes out for HHS they will have a formidable team.

I am not familiar with Nick Breslin, on the other hand. Is he an alumni as well?

SK and Brossart will be a nice night cap for day 1.

Campbell will have a good team this year - I like their matchup with CovCath.

To my understanding Collopy took a principal job at a local grade school which is why he stepped down as HC. Ron seemed to be a plug before and after Collopy. Collopy was an assistant for Ron before taking the reins.

I know some in the NCC faithful rue the missed opportunity at having Pangallo but I do not think there is any ill-will toward the current coach, Luhn.

15 hours ago, Jack of all Trades said:

 Not implying anything because I was not there.  The style of play comment stands however.  Not sure what that was on Saturday night, but it was not basketball.  Will also stand my comment that NCC should have hired Jimmy Pangallo.

Good to know you were not implying anything. Can you expand on this statement in your original post then? "but I can see how it might have been ignited by NCC"

Are you just stating NCC's defensive style leads to higher emotions or dirtier plays? If so, can you describe for me NCC's defensive style you saw Saturday since it was not basketball?

I am sure there are others in the NCC faithful that agree with you on the Pangallo statement.

16 hours ago, Jack of all Trades said:

I will say this after attending last night’s game.  It was clear that the play in question was “bush” league, but I can see how it might have been ignited by NCC.  Not sure what that defensive style was in either the JV or Varsity game, but it was not basketball.  IMO the Breds made a real poor choice in not offering the job to Jimmy Pangallo.  

Are you implying Luhn/NCC's playstyle lead to Caleb being hurt? No style of play should "ignite" the undercutting of a player shooting a layup. I am a little disturbed with this take.

NCC loses a big piece in Caleb Eaglin. after a steal and breakout, a Williamsburg player speeds up and puts his body/shoulder through the air-borne Eaglin, causing him to have a very ugly landing. Eaglin did not play the rest of the game and appeared to have been seriously injured.

The Williamsburg player was not ejected, but a few of NCC parents were, which boggles my mind. This was, unfortunately, the dirtiest play of basketball I have seen in the last 5+ years at the HS level. I hope the play is reviewed by KHSAA and Williamsburg HS.

Caleb is a golf stud who, I imagine, has desires to play at the next level. It would be a shame if this play has any impact on his upcoming golf season.

Final on 10/22.

Brice Denigan scores the games only goal to give Ryle the 1-nil win. Ryle advances to play Dunbar on 10/27 at 7:30 in Lexington (Freddy D).

Congratulations to all the players. Great honors making a team/honorable mention.

Without being there I can take a very, very, very, very good guess at which player made the eruption.

This appears to be a pretty "fair" draw. I agree with The double deuce, I would have liked to see Cov Cath play NCC as I see them as the 4 & 5 in the Region.

I will play "Rock Chalk" in the first round with all district winners advancing. From there, my guess is a Dixie v Highlands final game with the Birds hoisting the Regional trophy.

Now to flip a few coins to see which game I attend...

The Camels will face the Mustangs in the 37th District finals.

SK gets the result and moves on to challenge Grant County in the 32nd District Championship game.

Congratulations to Walton-Verona on a great year. They had some tough fixtures on this years schedule and collected some hardware.

A decent result for BBHS. They have some momentum heading into the weaker 10th region tournament. I can really only see 3 teams, MoCo, GRC, and BBHS, competing for the title. Of the 3, I would say MoCo is the favorite.

Highlands seems to be molding at the right time. Having seen all the teams in the 9th play, they will be my favorite heading into postseason play.

The Grant County Men's Soccer program really seems to be turning a page. They are playing tougher games and competing harder than I have ever seen. A tip of the cap to head coach Dustin Smith.

The 9th region tournament this year will be a treat!

Make this a top 4 removing CovCath and I agree with you. Too many inconsistent results for them. I would throw them into Tier II with Conner and NCC.

I also believe the Tier II teams have the potential to bring the top 4 teams' season to an end come Regional play. All 3 have proven they can beat/compete with the top 4.

I would give the nod to Dixie's staff.

10 hours ago, OutOfNeccessity said:

Looks like Cov Cath beat 2 of the 4 tier I teams this weekend. Not sure who they play next. (Boone or HC)

From what I understand, this is the furthest the Cov Cath JV team has gotten in Regional play in a few years. Good luck.

Good for Cov Cath!

I noticed a few other results that would challenge my ranking: Ryle over Dixie, Cooper needing PKs to get by NCC. I believe Holmes took HC to PKs as well (Frosh/JV mix teams).

Good result for the Breds. I have not seen Brossart play this year - I expected this result but a tighter game.

Good luck to NCC next week at State.

Great result for Fred Doug.

Can Dixie use the loss as a fine-tuning instrument?

On 9/14/2022 at 9:38 AM, FrankNicodemus said:

The sun has set on the Breds at the Fort

The scene was set for a very exciting match with the NCC boys coming to town with an undefeated record of 10-0-2.  Even with that unblemished record you really wondered how good this team was.  They had 2 high quality ties against Conner and Cooper earlier in the year BUT they haven't really beaten anyone of note (maybe I'll give you a 2-0 win against SK in their 1st game as a quality win).  

The fans kept strolling in to Tower Park to fill up the stands and create a standing room only feel to watch this 36th District battle. O whose that I see, yes its Dale Mueller at Tower catching the game!

Well the Birds didn't waste any time striking first getting the ball into a corner kick situation with only a minute into the game.  Caden Schroeder served up a beautiful cross which found a falling backwards Colin Pieper who got just enough pace off his head to punch the ball towards the goal.  A NCC defender tried to swing at the ball to kick it out and it awkwardly hit the inside top of the net.....no idea if the ball was crossed the goal line or not before the attempted clear by NCC.....regardless Highlands 1 NCC 0!!

Birds played really well controlling the ball most of the game.  It really looked clean out there for the Birds!  Probably I must say the best the Birds looked on the field this year.  Chad Gesenhues looked like his old self, I know he was banged up a little bit a few weeks ago.  Personnel wise today they had Adarsh Khullar in the defensive mid position with Haggard, Jones, Fedders and Foley on the back line.  Connor Mathis was between the pipes.

Back to the game:  Birds halfway thru the 1st half was able to get another corner kick opportunity.  This time Caden Schroeder was able to serve another beautiful ball that Jack Haggard who moved up from the backline to be part of the Corner Kick set play was able to connect the serve into the back of the net......Highlands 2 NCC 0

That is how the half ended 2-0

In the second half once again Birds controlled the ball and the game really well, unfortunately not able to pile on any more goals before Ponchak unloaded the JV squad in the game with around 23 or so min left in the game.  Once again another gutsy coaching decision with only a 2-0 lead.

Fortunately for the Birds Jack Lavin was able to connect 2 back to back assists to Zach DeSylva for his first 2 Varsity goals of the season in the 60th and 64th min.  It will be interesting to see how Zach develops, he actually scored a goal in the JV game earlier in the night.  The boy is big (Sphire probably sees him in the halls and would like to put pads on him for a TE role).  Highlands 4 NCC 0

Unfortunately, though like so many times before this Highlands team always wants people to stay in their seats and not leave early, must be an agreement with the concession stands to unload inventory.  With around 15 minutes remaining NCC gets either a corner kick or a throw in by the corner flag I forget which one it was but the ball came straight down the goal line into the box bouncing untouched SOME HOW and finds a waiting NCC player to put the ball in the back of the net.  NO IDEA how that ball was able to get thru like that?!  Highlands 4 NCC 1

It gets more interesting a few minutes later NCC is able to find a runner out front who goes on a dead sprint with the ball into the box and gets sandwiched, tripped, tangled up with a Bird defender or 2, which is then rewarded with a PK opportunity for NCC.  And just like that we have, Highlands 4 NCC 2.  All of this happening with pretty much all reserves in on the pitch for Highlands.  Luckily Ponchak does the smart thing and with 5 minutes left in the game, says "I have seen enough of this" and yanks all the reserves off the field and puts the starters in the game to finish this out without any more mistakes being made.

The buzzer sounds 5 minutes later with no other action made for either team.

Highlands 4 NCC 2, FINAL!!!

I know and you know I am a little biased but I didn't see anything out of NCC to lead me to believe they are a Top 5 NKY team even though this is their first loss.

On the other hand except for the 10-15 min JV squad in the Varsity match the Birds starters looked REALLY REALLY good!!!!  Maybe even the best I have seen so far.

GO BIRDS!!!

This is the best I saw Highlands play. I think the coaching staff fielded the correct starting XI. This was, arguably, the best technical game I have seen Highlands play as well. Passes were crisp and accurate. If the Birds play this way for the remainder of the season, it is hard not to consider them the favorites in the 9th. The student section wasn't too bad either.

The NCC team that showed up Tuesday night is not a top 5 region team. They seemed a lot slower and more reactive than the previous 2 games I saw them play. Defense seemed undisciplined at all 3 levels of the pitch. I will say, even when playing poorly, the goals conceded are preventable. As dominant as Highlands was in the first half (can throw in the 2nd as well), both goals were scored on restarts. You have to credit Highlands game plan - keep the ball, spread the field, wear down the shallow-benched Thoroughbreds. The good thing for NCC, they get another chance at their rivals in a more meaningful game in October.

19 hours ago, The Double Deuce said:

GRC has losses to Brossart and NewCath on its table, this slightly changes my impression of Freddy D.  Maybe Freddy D gives Dixie all it wants and it puts some luster back on them, but this is an odd result from looking at the season-long in broad strokes.

I agree. My "little birds" tell me both Campbell County Fish eating schools handled the Cardinals.

It is important to improve, learn, and progress through the regular season. Too much weight is put on W-L-D during the season. Coaching focus should always be improving and preparing for the games that distribute trophies to the winners.