The St. Henry Crusaders (3-0 overall) will take on the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (2-2) for the 9th Region girls soccer All “A” 9th Region crown on Wednesday. The game is at St. Henry at 6 p.m.
The Crusaders took down Holy Cross (2-1), 6-2 in the first semifinal game. Senior midfielder Mandy Schlueter, an Ohio State commit, led the Crusaders with three goals. Senior midfielder Lani Keipert added two goals and sophomore Avery Pleiman scored the other goal.
NewCath downed Ludlow (2-1), 6-1 in the second game. Senior forward Karly Enginger and senior defender Kayla Ahlbrand led the way with two goals each and junior Jill Schneider had two assists. Senior Kiley Murphy and sophomore Ashton Enginger had one goal each. Junior Morgan Wagner had an assist and sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Haigis had one save.
St. Henry already has more wins than last year under head coach Brian Bamberger who is in his second season. The Crusaders finished 2-12-3 last year.
Girls soccer
Conner 2, Highlands 2
Highlands had won the previous seven meetings, dating all the way back to 2001. The game at Tower Park on Monday ended in a draw.
“I feel like everything that we’ve done in pushing our girls with the schedule prepares us for moments like this,” said Mike Hughes, Conner head coach. “We have the players who have the fight. We have the players that are role players. We have the players that push. It felt like a regional (tournament) game. The atmosphere was great. I enjoyed it. To be here in August and have a moment like that says a lot for our program.”
Conner struck first when freshman forward/midfielder Cayley Eilers scored her first career varsity goal. But Highlands responded just more than three minutes later when junior Kate Jamie found the dynamic junior forward Laney Smith for the score tying the game with 24:54 left in the first half.
Just 4:56 into the second half, Smith broke the tie with her sixth goal of the season. Jamie passed it to Smith in the middle. Smith dribbled to the middle and scored.
“We have five freshmen with some significant time right now,” said Chris Norris, Highlands Head Coach. “It’s a little bit of a learning process. Kate Jamie and Laney Smith are learning how to play with each other. It’s still early in the season so we have all those things going. Conner’s two center backs are big and strong. We just couldn’t keep the ball away from them. I think they did a real nice job of shutting us down in our offensive half of the field. But I think we’ll continue to work on our short passes and runs off the ball. I think by the end of the season, we’ll be okay.”
Highlands looked to escape with the 2-1 win. But with 12:27 left in the game, Conner senior Juliet Strange drew a foul resulting in a yellow card and hit the free kick from the left side outside the attacking box.
“Going into the game, we knew Highlands was very physical,” Strange said. “We knew we had to match that. In the first half, we did that. Overall going into the second half, we had to take the ball to the next level and make sure that we work together. We have the technical level to do that.”
Highlands freshman goalkeeper Natalie Hinegardner had seven saves leaping into the air a time or two to make some saves. Sophomore goalkeeper Ally Welch made three for the Lady Cougars.
Hinegardner and fellow freshmen such as midfielder Katie Bucher and Kaylee Mills could not play soccer as eighth graders. But they did earn some valuable experience on a varsity level playing basketball last year.
“It’s really nice playing with freshmen,” said Anna Melson, Highlands senior midfielder. “We like them. We accept them and we’re really excited to develop them. The older ones bring them in and we just try to get them used to playing with each other.”
Conner (2-1-1) travels to Notre Dame (3-0) on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. game. Highlands (1-1-1) plays host to South Oldham (3-0) at the same time.
Campbell County 2, Simon Kenton 2
Meeting in Independence two days after the Camels (4-0-1) won the Fayette County Spectacular, the Kentucky Highway 536 rivals and perennial contenders in their respective regions battled to a draw.
Simon Kenton (1-1-2) built a 2-1 halftime lead with two goals off corner kicks. Seniors Sophie Decker and Margo Roberts scored those goals.
Campbell County tied the game late when sophomore forward Jozie Holmes scored her fifth goal of the season. Senior forward Ruby Dunlevy tallied her fifth goal of the year in the first half. Senior defender Sophie Jones and senior midfielder Ella Stahl had assists.
The Camels outshot the Lady Pioneers, 10-7 on frame. Simon Kenton senior goalkeeper Olivia York had six saves and Campbell County senior goalkeeper Morgan Rawe had four.
Campbell County plays host to Dixie Heights (2-1) in a quick rematch Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Pioneers play host to Oldham County (1-1) at the same time.
Notre Dame 4, Ryle 1
The Pandas (3-0) hit the road and won the 9th Region battle over the Lady Raiders (1-2).
Senior Ava Summer scored twice for the Pandas. Sophomores Megan McGraw and Kate Lenihan scored the other goals.
Junior Gracie Carrigan scored the Ryle goal with senior Mya Galicia recording the assist. Freshman goalkeeper Maleah Lehmkuhl had 16 saves and senior Kendall McGarvey had four.
Notre Dame plays host to Conner (2-1-1) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Ryle plays host to Highlands (1-1-1) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Beechwood 4, Villa Madonna 1
The Tigers (1-2) downed the Vikings (2-2) in a 9th Region battle.
Sophomore Kate Young led the Tigers with two goals and freshman Ruby Fries had one goal and one assist with sophomore Grace Cottengim scoring the other goal. Junior Allison Goodwin and sophomore Emily Hehman had assists with senior Lynden Noll recording two saves.
Senior forward/midfielder Brooklyn Pickens scored the lone Villa Madonna goal. Sophomore midfielder Makena Lainhart had 11 saves for the Vikings and sophomore goalkeeper Rosemary Rice had eight.
Villa Madonna travels to Gallatin County (1-1-1) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Beechwood plays host to Newport Central Catholic (2-2) on Saturday at Noon.
Scott 2, Boone County 2
The Lady Rebels (2-0-1) and Lady Eagles (1-0-1) battled to a draw in Florence.
Senior defender Morgan Lipps and senior midfielder Alexis Kollar scored one goal each. Junior goalkeeper/defender Abby Wenstrup had 15 goals.
Junior Kayla Hermann had both Scott goals. Sophomore Josie Puthoff assisted both goals.
Boone County plays host to Pendleton County (1-2) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Scott travels to Walton-Verona (3-1) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Cooper 7, Anderson County 0
The Lady Jaguars (2-1) ventured to Lawrenceburg and handled the Lady Bearcats (1-2).
Junior midfielder/striker Maleah Alexander led Cooper with three goals and two assists for eight points. Senior midfielder Adelle Richardson had two goals with sophomore midfielder Jessy Nichols and senior midfielder Alexa Luckhardt scoring one each.
Senior striker Payton Jones, sophomore midfielder/defender McKayla Harsley, senior defenders Shelby Snyder and Annessa DeMarco had one assist each. Senior goalkeeper Ashley Bessong had one save for Cooper.
The Lady Jaguars travel to Campbell County (4-0-1) on Saturday. Game time is 5 p.m.
Walton-Verona 10, Carroll County 0
The Bearcats (3-1) handled the Lady Panthers (0-1) in an 8th Region match-up.
Junior forward Emma Landrum led the way for Walton-Verona with four goals and two assists. Sophomore forward Cam Christy had three goals and two assists with junior Trinity Bauwens recording one goal and two assists.
Freshman Kaitlyn Lemming and senior midfielder Kaitlyn Lemming had one goal each for the Bearcats. Senior defender McKaila Hatton and freshman Leah Coleman had one assist each. Senior goalkeeper Payton Kenny did not have to make any saves.
Walton-Verona plays host to Scott (1-0-1) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
More Girls Soccer Scores
Bourbon County 8, Calvary Christian 0
Dayton 4, Holmes 2
Volleyball
Scott 2, Bracken County 0
The Eagles handled the Lady Bears with convincing 25-8, 25-6 scores.
Senior setter Audrey Griffin had 11 assists and four digs for Scott with freshman Milyn Minor tallying seven kills. Senior Laine Morman had three aces and three digs with senior Lexi Rogers putting up three digs, two aces and two kills. Sophomore Elise Manhardt had three digs and two aces with junior Brooke Balsley recording two kills.
Scott plays three games in the Glacier Invitational at Bracken County on Saturday. The Eagles play Trinity Christian out of Lexington at 11:15 a.m.
More Volleyball Scores
Highlands 3 (25-11, 25-12, 25-11), Lloyd Memorial 0
St. Henry 2 (25-5, 25-3), Holmes 0
Newport 2 (25-13, 25-22), Mason County 0
Boys Soccer
South Dearborn (Indiana) 8, Calvary Christian 0