Down two goals 10 minutes into the game, Highlands boys soccer coach Suli Kayed took a seat and pondered what was going wrong.
It took Kayed about two minutes to hop up, feeling much better about his team’s ability to pull off a comeback.
“After that second goal I chose to sit down in my chair and think a little bit as a coach. About two minutes later they got me out of my chair because I saw the determination in them. A lot of times you think it comes from the coaches, but the boys actually gave me determination today,” Kayed said.
That determination built up throughout the game and the Bluebirds scored three second half goals to stun Covington Catholic on their home field, 3-2 on Tuesday night in the 9th Region tournament quarterfinals.
After getting punched in the mouth for about the first 15 minutes, Highlands regrouped and controlled the game from there. They were inches from getting within a goal before the half, hitting the crossbar and having a few other goal scoring opportunities just miss.
“We didn’t rush it. We’re down 2-0, it’s not about go score the next goal, it’s about moving the ball, continuing to dominate the game and opportunities will come,” Kayed said. “Sometimes you get so caught up in getting that goal, but if there’s no control than it doesn’t really matter. We controlled the game.”
Five minutes into the second half, Harrison Gamble finally broke through to get them within one, sticking with possession past a diving Auggie Eilerman in net for the Colonels, and eventually the ball finding the back of the net.
Game on.
The Bluebirds continued to put the pressure on, seven shots on target in the second half to the Colonels two. The equalizer came in the 63rd minute when Dawson Mills headed a ball into the net after a scrum in the Colonels box. The ball was headed, kicked, deflected and sent about 20-feet in the air before Mills got his head on it and into the goal.
The Colonels developed a couple chances from there, but Bluebirds keeper Jack Wilson made a couple diving saves to keep them off the board.
The game looked destined for overtime as the closing minutes arrived. But the Bluebirds had other plans.
With 4:57 to play, Highlands had a throw-in deep in Colonels territory, the throw getting all the way inside the box and Zach DeSylva putting a head on it, putting it in goal to the near post, DeSylva facing his back against the goal and flicking it on.
“Just saw the ball, tried to put my head on it and I was able to jump up and get it,” DeSylva said. “I was trying to stay on the front post and if the ball went there get it.”
The comeback was complete, but not without another diving save from Wilson in the last minute to secure the victory. Highlands did it, they rallied from a two-goal second half deficit to defeat a rival and end their season.
“Second half was really the tale of two halves. We just stopped being aggressive, they were taking it at us and we didn’t know how to react in a couple of situations,” Colonels coach Jeremy Robertson said. “Highlands did a good job, they were hungrier in the second half. To give up three goals in the second half, it hurts.”
The Colonels struck early on Tyler Turnpaugh’s goal on an assist from Aiden Leach, Turnpaugh collecting and putting it in near post.
Cole Hubert followed with a strike from just outside the box, his bullet shot beating Wilson for what looked like an insurmountable lead for a team that had allowed three goals or more in a game just twice this season. The Colonels will graduate seven seniors.
“It’s always tough after a game like this to talk about what these guys have done,” Robertson said. “Thank the seniors for what they did, tell the underclassmen to thank them as well. They’ve done some good things here, they were a state runner-up two years ago.
Highlands moves on to face Ryle in the semifinals, Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Boone County. The Raiders won the first meeting between the two, 3-0 on Sept. 7. CovCath’s season comes to a close with a 13-6-4 record and a first round exit in the region tournament for the first time since 2012.
