Coming into the season and needing to replace three defenders, Ryle’s season got off to a rocky start with losses to Frederick Douglass and Henry Clay.
They allowed six goals in those two games, but figured things out quickly and haven’t lost since.
Their unbeaten streak reached 21 games on Saturday as they won the 9th Region championship for the second year in a row with a 1-0 victory over Newport Central Catholic.
They’ve surrendered just 10 goals during their unbeaten run that’s resulted in 20 wins and one tie, including just one goal allowed in five postseason games and none in the region tournament.
“We just went through one of the toughest regions in the state and didn’t allow a goal in three games,” Ryle coach Stephen Collins said. “That shows how strong our defense is, they’re playing really well right now.”
Ryle’s (20-2-1) defense on Saturday at Boone County High School was suffocating. NewCath was only able to put one shot on goal, one that Landon Barth gobbled up in the first half as they earned their 14th shutout of the season.
“As the season has gone by I’ve had to make less and less saves. As a goalie, I’ll take that,” Barth said. They’ve been a brick wall in front of me and If I need to make a save, I’ll make that save for them. They’re playing amazing in front of me.”
Defense wins championships, having a front line of attack that features Diego Hoenderkamp and Brice Denigan helps too. Hoenderkamp scored the lone goal of the game in the 20th minute on a pass from Diego Lakkis, his 24th of the season.
Plenty of chances came before that and after as the Raiders put up 13 shots and eight of them on goal. NewCath keeper Mason McCloskey made seven saves to keep them in it. Collins credits Chris Maraduaga for the midfield play while Owen Schierberg, Pierce Wilson and Marcus Hoenderkamp have helped hold down the back line.
Pretty much any ball that was pushed forward on the Raiders defense was either cleared away or countered with a Ryle attack of their own.
“Communication and cover. That’s it,” Maraduaga said. “We just had to cover because we knew their goalie could kick it far.”
The Raiders head to the state tournament and will play at 10th Region champion Bishop Brossart on either Monday or Tuesday. Coming off a state semifinal appearance a season ago, could this be the year that Collins’ program breaks through?
This will be Collins eighth trip to the state tournament with Ryle since 2006, reaching the state championship game twice and semifinals five times.
“Defense wins state championships. I’ve preached that for years and haven’t won one yet,” Collins said. “Defensively we feel we can hold a team to a zero or one. Offensively we can put goals on the board. Defensively we know we’re going to be in every game because I feel we have one of the best goalies in the state and one of the better defenses around. It takes a little luck, you need a break to go your way and need to stay injury free. There’s a lot of things that goes into winning the state title and hopefully one of these days it happens.”
NewCath’s season comes to a close at 17-6. The win total was their most since 2002, winning their first district title since 2015, won a 9th Region All “A” title and making their first region final since 2013.
“So many accomplishments this year. They’ve done so much this year,” Thoroughbreds coach Benjamin Williams said. “Great work ethic, determination, was a lot of fun to coach these guys.”
After Desmond’s shot in the 28th minute, their next best opportunity came late when Brady Diedenhofer fired off a promising shot, but it sailed just over the crossbar in the 74th minute. They were unable to get anything done after that.
They’ll graduate 10 seniors off this year’s squad.
“It’s tough to see those guys go with so many cool moments made this year. Now they leave a challenge for the younger guys to sustain that level of excellence,” Williams said.
