It has taken the minimum score for the Ryle Raiders boys soccer team.
But the Raiders (19-4-2 overall) know as well as any team that it does not have to be spectacular at this time of the year as long as they advance. Four days after beating the Montgomery County Indians, 1-0 at home, the 9th Region champions made it back to the state semifinals for the second time in three years going on the road to beat the 12th Region champion Boyle County Rebels (19-5-2) by the same score.
“It was a great win. It was a team win,” said Stephen Collins, veteran Ryle head coach. “We had multiple guys step up, which has been happing the whole tournament for us. It was nice to see this team hold together and get this win.”
Ryle heads to Lexington on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game at Frederick Douglass against the defending state champion Lexington Dunbar Bulldogs (17-2-3). Bowling Green (19-2) takes on Louisville St. Xavier (23-1-3) at 4 p.m. in the other state semifinal. The championship game takes place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday back at Frederick Douglass.
Both teams played nice defense not allowing either to consistently connect passes therefore limiting shot opportunities. Ryle unofficially had 10 shots with two on goal and Boyle County had five with one on goal that Ryle junior goalkeeper Landon Barth stopped. Boyle County sophomore goalkeeper McClain Denny also made one save.
Neither team scored in the first half. The Raiders put one in the back of the net with 26:27 left but an offsides call negated the goal.
However, the Raiders scored the game’s lone goal just 37 seconds into the second half. Freshman midfielder/striker Brice Denigan made his way into the attacking box and put in a rebound for his 16th goal of the season.
“I had a shot. It got deflected,” Denigan said. “It just came right back to me so I shot it again and it went in.”
Collins said Boyle County started in a 4-4-2 formation but the Rebels changed to a 3-4-3 (defender-midfielder-forward) formation in the second half when the Raiders took the lead trying to tie the game. The Raiders stuck with their primary 4-5-1 formation the entire game.
“It really gave us a lot of energy going into that second half,” Collins said. “I thought after we scored that goal, we controlled about the next 10 to 15 minutes, which let the rest of the guys relax a little bit. It took some pressure off and we were able to do some things. But (Boyle) fought pushing it the last 10 to 15 minutes. But our defense held strong, which is kind of what we’ve been doing the last couple weeks.”
Boyle County came into the game on a nine-game winning streak, but had not played a 9th Region team. The Rebels had four players with at least 10 goals this year with senior forward Tristan Compton leading the way with 32.
Ryle won its fair share of 50/50 balls and made nice tackles all over the field stopping the Boyle County runs. The Raiders had 10 fouls to six for Boyle County.
“It comes down to whoever wants the ball the most,” said Anes Smajlovic, Ryle junior forward. “It just shows who has more passion. We communicate really well calling the runs and which way we’re going just looking up. That’s pretty much it.”
The Rebels did have three corner kicks to two for the Raiders. But the Ryle defense did not allow any solid shots off them.
The Rebels ran over Ryle senior defender Aidan Byrd on a corner kick late in the game. Byrd did need attention after drawing a foul in the attacking box when Boyle County ran him over. But Byrd ultimately stood up and walked off on his own.
“I think it’s definitely worth it. Most goals are scored off set pieces,” Byrd said of the play. “It’s crucial to get those out or get those in if you’re attacking. I took one for the team.”
The loosely-called game had a number of tense moments. Boyle County had several yellow cards to one for Ryle.
In its last two trips to the state tournament in 2020 and 2017, Ryle lost in the state semifinals. The Raiders have two state runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2006.
Region Cross Country Results
Class 3A, Region 5
The Conner Cougars boys won the race at Ryle scoring 37 points and Covington Catholic took runner-up honors scoring 52. Ryle junior Tiger Bartlett won the race in 15:53.18 and CovCath sophomore Will Sheets finished runner-up in 15:58.21.
“I think we ran pretty well,” said Ian Johnstone, Conner head coach. “We’ve been kind of relying on our five, six, seven guys to step up and close the gap between our top four and I think they did that really well (Saturday). The top four have been pretty consistent all season and they came out and did what they’ve been doing. It was a total team effort because that CovCath team is really good.”
Conner saw its scorers finish in the top 14. Senior George Johnson led the way taking third in 16:07.47. Senior Drew Moore and junior Joey Carroll took fifth and sixth in 16:21.22 and 16:25.57, respectively. Sophomore Nathan Hopper and junior Warren Johnson finished ninth and 14th in times of 17:02.57 and 17:24.68, respectively.
“It was great,” Moore said. “We have guys who work hard. I knew if we put our minds to it, we could do it again and we did.”
Campbell County won the girls race with 37 points and Ryle took second with 50. Camel sophomore Olivia Holbrook won the race in 19:27.48 and Ryle sophomore Allison Kopser took third in 20:28.13.
A seventh grader, Lila Dunlevy finished fifth for Campbell County in 20:49.85 and senior Emilie Zengel took sixth in 20:54.37. Senior Kaitlyn Strange and seventh grader Brooklyn Phelps took 10th and 15th in 21:38.38 and 22:24.10 respectively.
The Class 3A state races take place Saturday at the Bourbon Cross Country Course in Paris. The boys race at 3 p.m. and the girls race at 4 p.m.
Class 2A, Region 4
The Highlands boys won the region meet for the second straight year, scoring 40 points. Scott took fourth with 96 points. The race took place at Masterson Station Park in Lexington.
“We kind of expected to do well. But it’s always nice to get a win,” said Brian Alessandro, Highlands head coach. “We ran well and we had a couple people that ran pretty fast for us.”
Highlands placed six runners in the top 19. Senior Caden Schroeder finished second in 17 minutes, 14.24 seconds. Then junior Malcolm Robertson took third in 17:25.11 and freshman Jacob Gubser took seventh in 18:14.03. Freshman Chase Pawsat and junior Max Zengel took 10th and 18th in 18:27.57 and 19:01.90 respectively. Robertson ran his first race since the first one of the year.
“It feels good to come back and contribute to the team right away,” Robertson said. “It helped our team confidence going into the state meet next week.”
Lexington Catholic won the girls race with 37 points. But Scott hung with them scoring 44 points with junior Maddie Strong winning the race in 18:43.70. Eighth grader Grace Klim and sophomore Ansley Lindloff took seventh and eighth respectively in 20:56.8 and 21:00.6. Juniors Lorin Neal and Ellie Stratman took 14th and 16th respectively in 21:44.20 and 21:55.
“We knew it would be tough going up against a defending state champion,” said Zach Triplett, Scott head coach. “But we had a number of girls step up. Maddie Strong ran a great race. We hope to be right there with Lexington Catholic at the state meet.”
The Highlands girls finished third with 66 points. Eighth grader Ella Taylor led the Bluebirds placing fifth in 20:47.6.
The Class 2A state meet is Friday at the Bourbon Cross Country Course in Paris. The boys run at 4 p.m. and the girls race at 5 p.m.
Class 1A, Region 4
The Beechwood Tigers girls made school history winning the region meet for the first time in school history with 22 points at Ryle. Bishop Brossart took second with 60 points.
Beechwood freshman Lily Parke won the race in 20:29.39 and Bishop Brossart senior Amy Klocke finished second in 20:55.62. Beechwood sophomore Charli Gerrein took third in 21:24.92.
After St. Henry sophomore Mackenzie McMain took fourth in 21:36.74, Beechwood took the next five spots. Sophomores Isabel Ginter, Lana Holt and Annie Harris finished the Tigers scoring in fifth (21:42.91) , sixth (22:20.39) and seventh (22:31.41).
“I think all 24 of our girls have really bought into this is a family. We work together. This is a good team,” said Tricia Sturgeon, Beechwood head coach. “From the beginning, they stopped running as individuals and they ran as a team. You could see that throughout the season. Our number one was pretty consistent. But our two through seven runners switched off every race. They push each other races. That’s what we told them to do (Saturday). They were pretty amazing to watch.”
St. Henry won the boys race with 29 points taking three of the top four spots and Villa Madonna took second with 49. St. Henry senior Ryan Dixon won the race in 16:37.47 and Bishop Brossart junior Nathan Ruth finished runner-up in 16:52.71.
The Crusaders placed their top five in the top 11. Seniors Jack Goodwin and Tyler Goetz took 10th and 11th respectively in 17:51.79 and 17:59.69.
The Class 1A races are Saturday at the Bourbon Cross Country Course in Paris. The boys race at 10 a.m. and the girls run at 11 a.m.
Region Volleyball Pairings
9th Region at Ryle
Not counting the Covid-shortened 2020 season, the last two state champions in the St. Henry Crusaders (24-7) and Notre Dame Pandas (27-5) have not met earlier in the region tournament than the title game since 2015 in the semifinals.
That changes this year with the two district champions on the same side of the bracket. The Pandas play the 36th District runner-up Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (15-17) in an intriguing twist. Sophomore twin sisters Riley and Reese McCloskey will be on opposite sides of the net. Riley McCloskey is a hitter for the Pandas and Reese McCloskey is a hitter for the Thoroughbreds. The two did not play each other during the regular season.
That game starts at 5:30 p.m. before St. Henry takes on the 33rd District runner-up Conner Cougars (21-12) at 7:30 p.m. Conner is in the region tournament for the first time since 2005. The two did not meet during the regular season. Those winners meet in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The 33rd District champion and host Raiders (22-15) drew the bottom half of the bracket against the 34th runner-up Dixie Heights Colonels (15-9) at 5:30 p.m. Ryle beat Dixie Heights twice during the regular season including a match-up in the Jefferson County Volleyball Invitational Tournament.
The 36th District champion Highlands Bluebirds (19-13) take on the 35th and All “A” State runner-up Holy Cross Indians (29-8) at 7:30 p.m. Holy Cross won the regular season match-up at home Sept. 8 in three straight by 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 scores.
The winners of those two games play Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The title game is Thursday at 6 p.m.
8th Region at Eminence
The Simon Kenton Pioneers (15-19) drew the 31st District runner-up Trimble County Raiders (15-11) in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
Simon Kenton did not play the Raiders during the regular season. But the Pioneers are 10-5 against 8th Region opponents. The winner plays either 29th District runner-up South Oldham (21-12) or 30th District champion Woodford County (23-7) at the same time Wednesday. The region championship is Thursday at 7 p.m.
