Things looked good for nearly 50 minutes for the Ryle Raiders boys soccer team (19-5-2 overall) in the state semifinal game at Frederick Douglass.
Ryle led 1-0 at halftime and kept that lead for nearly the first ten minutes of the second half. But the defending state champion Lexington Dunbar Bulldogs (18-2-3) tied the game with 30:37 left, and then added another one on a bad Raider pass, then scored two more to pull away.
“They’re a senior-dominated team,” said Stephen Collins, Ryle head coach. “In that second half, they just came out with a lot more focus. We ran out of gas. Once they hit a couple goals, it kind of snowballed on us. With a young team, that unfortunately happens sometimes. I told the guys when we got here, it’s going to take a little luck. It’s going to take some calls going your way. You’re going to have to outwork then. Unfortunately, we didn’t get any of the three.”
Junior goalkeeper Landon Barth made five saves for the Raiders.
Ryle made its lone shot on goal count with 2:08 left in the first half. Freshman forward/striker Brice Denigan made a nice pass to the leading Raider goal-scorer in junior midfielder Diego Honderkamp for his 24th goal this year.
Then with 30:29 left in the game, Dunbar junior Kasen Johnston dribbled to his right and fired one past Barth to tie the game. The Bulldogs then took the lead for good when senior Antonio Blackman snuck in behind when Ryle tried to play one back to Barth and scored his 12th goal of the year.
“When you play against a good team, you can’t lose focus,” Collins said. “If you lose for a second, you have a bad pass and they score. If you have another bad pass, they score again and your down 2-1. You’re fighting an uphill battle. We kept fighting. But we couldn’t seem to keep the gas going.”
The Bulldogs added two more. Johnston scored again on an assist from Joany Chavez with 20:36 left in the game and sophomore Chaz Rich scored his ninth goal of the year with 4:48 left in the game.
“They dribbled very well in and outside the box,” Byrd said. “They fired one in. It went downhill fromt here. But we had a good first half. I’m proud of the guys for all the hard work. I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys.”
Ryle graduates six seniors from the team: defender/midfielders Alex Huff, David Snowden, defender Aidan Byrd, midfielders Cole Marsh, Lucas Munich and forward/midfielder Gandhi Merida.
Ryle has a good core returning next year including the likes of Honderkamp, Denigan and Barth.
Football
Lloyd Memorial 24, Holmes 20
The Juggernauts (7-3) knocked off the host Bulldogs (6-4) to conclude the regular season. They had 131 yards rushing and 58 passing compared to 215 rushing and 44 passing for Holmes.
“Give credit to Holmes. Those guys are very well-coached,” said Kyle Niederman, Lloyd head coach. “Their kids play hard. We felt like we competed with and hung in there with a good football team. It felt really good. The kids are playing hard.”
But Lloyd picked off two passes and did not turn the ball over. Sophomore defensive back Isaiah Sebastian and junior lineman Thomas Plymesser recorded the interceptions.
Senior running back Kaiden Zulager rushed for 84 yards on 17 carries for just under five yards per carry and a 32-yard reception. Zulager surpassed 1,000 rushing yards on the season. He has 1,043 yards and 13 touchdowns on 155 carries.
Junior defensive back Elijah Westwood had 11 solo and three assisted tackles to lead the Juggernauts. Junior defensive back John Crim and sophomore defensive back Elijah Collins had 11 and 10 tackles each.
Both teams open the playoffs Nov. 4. Lloyd Memorial plays host to Owen County (5-4) and Holmes does not yet know its opponent.
