At least the Highlands and Newport Central Catholic boys soccer teams always know the first week of their postseason plans.
The Bluebirds (14-5-3 in 2022) and Thoroughbreds (14-6-2) automatically advance to the Ninth Region tournament from the 36th District – Newport, Bellevue and Dayton have never fielded a team.
“It is a bit nice to know you’ll be in the regional tournament,” first-year Highlands coach Suli Kayed said. “Nothing is a given in our region … It might be a little less pressure from that (district championship) game, just knowing that you have another week. But it doesn’t change the planning and the preparation and what you do before you enter the district tournament. That game is vitally important.”
Highlands-NewCath hasn’t been much of a rivalry lately – the Bluebirds have a 14-match winning streak, including the last seven district titles. The Thoroughbreds won the 2015 district title, and the last regular-season victory was a 3-2 decision on Sept. 10, 2015.
“Kids, myself, the program, we’re well aware of that,” NewCath coach Ben Williams said. “Give credit where it’s due; they have a good program, good players.”
Kayed begins his tenure in Fort Thomas with a largely new team – 16 seniors, including leading scorers Colin Pieper (21 goals last year) and Casey Stiles (eight), graduated.
“You’re almost replacing the whole team,” Kayed said. “There’s not a lot of guys returning with varsity experience. There’s some, and luckily the ones returning are some of the top players in the region, in my opinion.”
Senior midfielder Chad Gesenhues is back. He had seven goals and seven assists. Kayed said Gesenhues’ two-fold role is to be a leader and simply enjoy the game.
“I think often, when you know you are one of the most talented players in the state, you carry this weight on your shoulders … His role is to connect the lines together. He’s a midfield player, connected his back line with front line,” Kayed said.
Seniors Jack Haggard and Adarsh Khullar also return. Haggard had four goals and four assists last season, and Khullar had three of each.
Sophomore Sam Lang and senior Jack Wilson could share time as goalkeeper. Wilson saved 45 shots and had a 1.2 goals-against average.
NewCath shouldn’t lack for scoring. The top three scorers, senior midfielders Ryan Desmond (16 goals, nine assists), Owen Roeder (10 and five) and Brady Diedenhofer (eight and three), return.
Desmond was also a second-team all-state selection. “Ryan is a very skilled player; he has a ton of endurance,” Williams said.
Williams said Roeder also has strong instincts on defense, and Diedenhofer will be an outside forward.
Senior Mason McCloskey scored seven goals and served four assists last year, but he’s moving to goalkeeper this season. Seniors Brayden Leger and Christian Woods and juniors Aidan Combs and Colin O’Dea make up the back line.
Williams said the Ninth Region All “A’ tournament and the regular-season game against Highlands at 5 p.m. Sept. 12 in Fort Thomas are important, but yes, the streak is a conversation topic.
“It’s always a very difficult … and a fun game to play,” Williams said. “But yes, we are very aware of our streak against them, and we’re hoping to correct that this year.”