Newport Central Catholic and Ryle shut their opponents out on Thursday and are headed to Saturday’s 9th Region boys soccer championship. The game will be played at Boone County High School at 2 p.m.
Here’s how it went down:
Ryle 2, Highlands 0
The creative attack from the Raiders earned a goal 13 minutes in and then sealed the deal with another ball finding the back of the net in the 72nd minute.
Brice Denigan scored in the 13th minute, Anes Smajlovic added another in the 72nd minute.
“It was good, kind of just secured the deal. It was a good build up led by Diego (Hoenderkamp) and then Anes was right place, right time,” Denigan said.
Denigan’s goal came on an assist from Diego Hoenderkamp as the Raiders finished with 22 shots and 13 of them on target.
“We knew Highlands was a tough team and it was nice to get that first goal out of the way so it kind of took a lot of pressure off of us,” Hoenderkamp said.
Raiders keeper Landon Barth made two saves as they earned their 13th shutout of the season.
The Raiders created scoring opportunities early and often. By the 26th minute, Bluebirds keeper Jack Wilson had already made five saves. Wilson was busy all evening, making 11 saves from the relentless Ryle attack.
“We were attacking all night. We have some skill, we have some speed, we have some guys that have a nose for a goal,” Raiders coach Stephen Collins said. “We knew if we kept putting pressure on them, the second goal was going to fall and it finally did.”
Meanwhile Highlands created some chances, but struggled to hit the target, putting just two shots on goal all night, despite 12 shots. The Bluebirds best chances came in the 34th and 60th minute on a header that went just wide and a shot attempt off a corner kick that also missed the goal wide.
“We had some chances tonight and if some of those go in obviously it could have gone a different way,” Bluebirds coach Suli Kayed said. “They’re so creative, we had to be perfect in every area of our game to not get punished because they have so much quality on the field. They’re a great team, if not the best, one of the best teams in the state.”
Two nights after an epic comeback against Covington Catholic in a second half, two-goal deficit, the Bluebirds were unable to pull off anymore magic. Their season comes to an end at 12-6-2. They’ll graduate a large senior class of 10.
“So proud of my boys. Great group of seniors, it’s kind of cliche, but this is the best senior class that anyone can ask for. Character, leadership, we haven’t had a single issue this year. Nothing with parents, no playing time issues, so kudos to the parents,” Kayed said. “My joy for coaching and my desire to be there for young men has been through the roof because of my opportunity here with this group.”
Ryle now looks for a repeat as region champ. They’ll enter Saturday’s contest with the Thoroughbreds as the favorite.
“Anybody can win. It’s a really good NCC team. They’re going to come in and be just as excited. If we play like we did tonight, we’ve got a chance to beat anybody,” Collins said. “We know we’re the favorite, but we’ve been the favorite sometimes in year’s past where we’ve got beat. We’re keeping that in the back of our guy’s heads and we’re just going to keep working and working.”
The Raiders improved to 19-2-1, carrying a 20-game unbeaten streak into Saturday’s final.
Newport Central Catholic 3, Dixie Heights 0
Newport Central Catholic boys soccer coach Benjamin Williams is going to have quite the decision on his hands if the Thoroughbreds can pull off another win on Saturday when it comes to picking a tournament MVP.
“I’m trying not to think about it,” Williams said with a smile. “Guys have stepped up and they’ve played hard and that’s something that we’ve talked about since June. It’s coming together and it’s fun to be in this spot. We haven’t been this far in a while. It’s fun and the kids are loving it.”
The ‘Breds took care of business on Thursday at Boone County in the 9th Region semifinals, downing Dixie Heights 3-0.
Brady Diedenhofer, Ben Bucher and Ryan Desmond scored goals, Jonathan Green dished out two assists with Desmond collecting the other while Mason McCloskey earned his 11th shoutout of the season.
Green has scored or assisted on five of the ‘Breds six goals in the tournament, Desmond with a goal and three assists in the two games. McCloskey has recorded 14 saves after snagging seven more on Thursday.
“He’s a giant back there,” Williams said. “Mason has been awesome this year. His presence on the field has been tremendous. He’s been a constant for us. So proud of his work ethic and he’s an imposing player in-between the posts.”
The trio has helped position NewCath to their first region title game since 2013.
First it was Desmond finding Brady Diedenhofer in the box, Diedenhofer flicking one in the goal with his foot for the goal 17 minutes into the game. Desmond’s cross gave him his 13th assist of the season, seven more than anyone else on the team.
“I’m pretty much all over the place when it comes to where I’m playing. I pretty much go wherever I’m needed and put in my all and try to set up my teammates,” Desmond said. “If I’m open for a shot I take it with confidence. I had a few that I should have put in early in the game but came back later and buried one.”
Then it was Green’s turn, hitting Ben Bucher on a cross, Bucher heading the ball into the back of the net in the 56th minute to give the Thoroughbreds a 2-0 lead.
Finally it was Green and Desmond connecting, unlike Tuesday’s quarterfinal win when it was Desmond feeding Green goals. Green hit Desmond in the center of the box for a goal in the 75th minute to make it 3-0.
In between all that, it was McCloskey gobbling everything up on the ‘Breds defensive end. McCloskey made saves of all kinds, diving for a few, punching a few away and making sure nothing got past him.
“It’s kind of like instinct. Sounds like a joke, but it’s spider sense a little bit,” McCloskey said of his Spiderman instincts, who he said he’s a fan of.
It won’t go down on the stat sheet, but McCloskey even wanted a save for a missed penalty kick that went wide of the net by the Colonels in the 73rd minute.
“I think I intimidated him, so I’ll count it as a save,” McCloskey said.
The penalty kick came with a cost though, NewCath issued a red card and being a man down for the rest of the game.
Dixie had minimal opportunities in the first half, unable to get one past McCloskey, collecting a diving save in the 26th minute for his lone save of the half. Donovan Lameier also had a chance in the game’s opening minutes, but his shot rolled just wide of the net.
The issue that plagued the Colonels in 2023 showed evident in the season ending loss, scoring goals. It was the ninth time they were shut out this year. They close out at 8-10-2 and will graduate 14 seniors.
Brady Meyer made six saves.
NewCath’s 17th win of the season was their most since the 2002 season, when they also won 17 games.