The Cooper Jaguars boys soccer team (5-0-3 overall) may not be where it wants to be yet, but the Jaguars left Wooten Field in Park Hills knowing they just made history in the 14th meeting ever against the Covington Catholic Colonels (4-6).
For the first time since the Union school opened in 2008, Cooper knocked off the defending 9th Region and state runner-up Covington Catholic Colonels, 2-1. (The teams have tied twice in their fourteen meetings.)
“It definitely feels good. (CovCath) is a solid team all-around,” said Doug Flesch, Cooper head coach. “For us to get wins against Dixie, CovCath and tie Highlands kind of opens up October. It says a lot about our potential. We’re doing the small things right so as long as we stay health and continue that, it should be exciting in October.”
Freshman forward Maddox Pemberton scored the game-winning goal in the middle of the second half for Cooper. Pemberton had an assist from senior forward Adam Morris. That marked the fifth goal of the season for Pemberton and the sixth assist from Morris, who also has a team-high eight goals this year.
“I think our chemistry is just starting to come along,” Adam Morris said. “Maddox may be a freshman. But he’s come in and fit (in well). He’s exactly what we’re looking for making those runs and being a hard worker. He’s the perfect striker.”
The two make up two sets of brothers on the Cooper varsity squad. Adam Morris is twins with senior forward Alex Morris and Pemberton’s older brother in senior Mason Pemberton plays goalkeeper often splitting halves with senior goalkeeper Keegan Truebner.
“When we’re making mistakes, we’re hard on each other because we know we can take it,” Alex Morris said. “We really push each other.”
Senior defender Alex Collins had the other Cooper goal and senior midfielder Taylor Moore had the assist. That marked the second goal of the year for Collins and the first assist for Moore.
The Jaguars had to defend a good bit down the stretch. But they did not allow CovCath to earn any clean shots on goal holding on for the victory.
Cooper plays host to Holy Cross (4-4) on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. CovCath plays host to Cincinnati (Ohio) Country Day on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Boys soccer
Highlands 3, Beechwood 0
The Bluebirds (4-3-2) ventured to Fort Mitchell and recorded a regional win against the Tigers (5-5) in their second straight shut-out win.
Senior midfielder Caden Schroeder led Highlands with two goals and senior forward Colin Pieper had the other goal to go with an assist. Senior defender Ashton Foley had the assist. Pieper has a team-high 13 goals and is tied with five other teammates with two assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Jack Wilson had four saves.
Beechwood travels to Simon Kenton (5-5) on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game. Highlands plays at Cincinnati (Ohio) Summit Country Day on the same day at 6:30 p.m.
Dixie Heights 5, Montgomery County 1
The Colonels (8-1) downed the Indians (5-6) in a crucial non-region win.
Seniors Bennett Gerak, Reed Brixey, Mehnen Dahi, sophomore Aiden Sanders and freshman Donovan Lameier scored the Colonel goals. Senior Noah Koenig had two assists with freshman Trevor Bolte and senior Ryder Kennedy recording one assist each. Senior goalkeeper Braden Blackburn had four saves.
Dixie Heights plays host to St. Henry (2-6) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Bishop Brossart 5, Walton-Verona 1
The Mustangs (5-3-2) won their fourth in a row knocking off the Bearcats (5-4-3).
Junior Landon Guidugli scored twice for the Mustangs with juniors Tyler Smith, Brennan Callahan and sophomore Alex Runge recording one goal and one assist each. Senior Landon Bain had two assists each.
The Mustangs used three goalkeepers in the win. Junior Michael Cooney had two saves with senior Lucas Steffen and Logan Rauen making one each.
Senior Arif Ceylan scored the goal for the Bearcats and senior Sam Courtney had 12 saves at goalkeeper. Ceylan has 14 goals and three assists on the season for Walton-Verona.
Bishop Brossart plays host to Grant County (6-0-1) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Walton-Verona goes to East Jessamine (2-6-1) on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. game.
Other Boys Soccer Scores:
Boone County 6, Holmes 0
Conner 8, Calvary Christian 0
Campbell County 4, Pendleton County 2
Scott 1, Villa Madonna 0
Girls soccer
Notre Dame 2, DuPont Manual 0
The Pandas (8-2-1) downed the Crimsons (6-4-2) in the opening round of the Lexington Catholic Challenge Cup.
Senior Ellie Greenwell had one goal and one assist for the defending state champions. Junior Eva Dozier had the other goal and senior Evie Meyer had an assist.
Notre Dame plays Assumption (9-1-2) in the second round Thursday at 8 p.m.
Other Girls Soccer Scores:
Assumption 4, Dixie Heights 2
Cincinnati (Ohio) McNicholas 4, Campbell County 2
Volleyball
Notre Dame 3, Campbell County 0
The non-region game between the Notre Dame Pandas (7-2) and the Campbell County Camels (3-7) moved to Notre Dame because of issues with Campbell County’s home floor. But Notre Dame had its way for the most part in the 25-6, 25-14, 25-10 victory.
Both teams have a number of talented hitters. But the Pandas are clicking better, especially on defense, like they have done for 40-plus years as a program. Notre Dame had 41 kills, 39 assists, 43 digs, two solo blocks fromsenior outside hitter Sydney Nolan and 10 aces.
“I think we’re really fortunate this year we have a lot of experience on the defensive end,” said Leslie Litmer, Notre Dame Head Coach. “We have countless players that we’re able to put in. They’ve moved around in different positions and they were able to step in and make plays. That speaks volumes of our depth not only there, but all the way around.”
Senior defensive specialist Kamden Schrand had 15 digs to go with four aces. Six different Pandas had digs including sophomore Julia Grace with six and senior defensive specialist Jada Kramer with five.
That let sophomore setter Lauren Ott and freshman setter Lizzy Larkins set up the powerful Notre Dame hitters. Larkins had 22 assists and Ott had 17 along with six digs. Ott and senior defensive specialist Kayla Hostetler had two aces each.
“The pace of the game is definitely a lot faster than middle school,” Larkins said. “I’ve seen it in club (volleyball). But the girls have definitely helped me with that pace and they’ve pushed me in a good way.”
Nolan had 14 kills with sophomore Ava Tilden contributing eight. Sophomore Riley McCloskey had seven kills and seven digs. Senior Peyton Mast had five kills and freshman Audrey Dyas had four. The Pandas hit all over the court making life tough on opposing defenses. Kramer said the Pandas benefit going against those hitters in practice.
“I think the defense was really on,” Kramer said. “Sydney, Peyton and Riley are some of the best of the best. They’re always swinging away at us in practice. Practicing against hitters of that caliber really prepares us for whatever comes across the net.”
Campbell County could not set its powerful hitters enough. The Camels had some nice runs in the second and third games when they did. Sophomore Lucy Trapp led Campbell County with four kills and eight digs.
“We know that Notre Dame is a tough team,” said Jessica Ginter, Campbell County Head Coach. “They’re thorough on their swings. They’re just all-around solid. We tried to prepare as best as we could in practice. Sometimes, it takes a while to translate. We’re still trying to work out some things in our line-up to figure out what’s most consistent. I feel like we’ve been on a roller coaster. You can see it in our record. But it’s early in the season. It kind of becomes a mental game for the girls. We’re pushing forward.”
The Camels had nine kills, eight assists, five aces, 27 digs and one block by junior Ava Crowl. Crowl also had a team-high six assists. Sophomore defensive specialist A lon McIntyre had the team’s lone block.
Campbell County travels to Boone County (4-12) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Notre Dame plays host to Parma (Ohio) Padua Franciscan at 7 p.m.
Holy Cross 2, Newport Central Catholic 0
The Indians (11-1) took care of the Thoroughbreds (7-8) for the third time this season advancing to the All “A” 9th Region title game back at Newport High by 25-10, 25-14 scores.
“It’s tough to play the same team three times,” said Jill Hunt, Holy Cross Head Coach. “NewCath had a great weekend (in the September Slam at Scott). We actually missed a lot of serves. But we served more aggressively. We had just six errors offensively. We tend to make a lot of errors. There was not much difference in the match-up.”
Holy Cross will take on 11-1 Villa Madonna. The Vikings downed Dayton (3-8), 2-0 (25-10, 25-9).
The Indians had 25 kills, 18 assists, three aces and four blocks. Senior setter Maya Hunt had 17 assists, three aces and two blocks. Junior power hitter Julia Hunt had 14 kills and two blocks with senior outside hitter Rylee Hood recording five kills.
“We talk about serve-reception in practice and spend an hour focusing on it because it’s very important,” Maya Hunt said. “We’ve improved on it since the beginning of the year. When we do great on that first pass, I can set anyone I need to.”
NewCath travels to Lloyd Memorial (4-5) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Dixie Heights 3, Walton-Verona 0
The Colonels (5-3) won their fifth in a row downing the Bearcats (3-6) in three by 25-12, 25-13, 25-13 scores.
Dixie Heights had 37 kills, 13 aces and 50 digs in the win. Junior Christen Tarter had 13 digs and six assists with senior hitter Maia Long tallying 20 kills and 10 digs. Junior Maggie Best had 10 kills and 13 digs with freshman Maddie Kelly recording 28 assists, 11 digs and four aces.
Dixie Heights plays host to Scott (13-2) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores:
Boone County 3 (25-21, 25-19, 25-18), Williamstown 0
Calvary Christian 3 (25-6, 14-25, 14-25, 27-25, 15-13), Cincinnati Tralblazers Home School (Ohio) 2
Conner 3 (25-20, 25-20, 25-19), Highlands 0
Heritage Academy 2 (25-12, 25-19), Covington Latin 0
Oldham County 3 (22-25, 11-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-8), Simon Kenton 2
St. Patrick 2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-23), Newport 1