All four teams have at least one 10th Region Tournament championship since the region aligned the way it is in 2012.
But lately, the 37th District Tournament has belonged to the Bishop Brossart Mustangs with three straight titles. They’ve gone a perfect 15-0 over that time against district opponents, winning all three district tournament championship games by one goal. That includes an exciting 3-2 win over the in-town rival Campbell County Camels in last year’s title game at Scott. The two meet Sept. 12 at Campbell County.
“Our seniors and their seniors have known each other for a very long time,” said Ron Dunlevy, second-year Bishop Brossart head coach. “They’re friends off the field. They all understand what’s at stake. I’m very much looking forward to playing Campbell County because I see them as our biggest competition in our district. I know they have extra impetus to keep that streak intact and I know Campbell County has extra impetus to break it.”
Newman is entering his seventh season leading the Camels. It has not been uncommon for postseason rematches to be closer than the regular season meetings between the two in recent years. Brossart won the regular season battle 3-0 last year.
“With two schools in Alexandria, there’s an obvious rivalry,” Newman said. “We have the upward most respect for Brossart and what they’ve done. But hopefully, we’ll meet them in a competitive game at season end (then) we can both showcase what we can do.”
Bishop Brossart won its lone region championship in the current format in 2013. Campbell County claimed consecutive region championships in 2016 and ’17 with Calvary Christian beating Campbell County, 3-1 for the 2019 region championship. Scott has not been back to the region tournament since winning the 10th Region title in 2014.
While Calvary Christian was able to break through in 2019, Montgomery County has won four of the last five 10th Region titles.
Bishop Brossart Mustangs
The Mustangs finished 13-6-2 in 2022, driving all the way to the region championship for the first time since 2017.
Dunlevy pointed out the big difference this year is the Mustangs have 10 seniors compared to four last year, including two goalkeepers. A number of them have been on varsity all four years of high school.
“They all know what varsity play is all about,” Dunlevy said. “We have been to a region final so we understand what that’s all about. But we also know what it’s like to lose that thing. They don’t want a repeat of that feeling so they definitely have their eye on the prize as far as that goes.”
Senior Michael Cooney steps back in at goalkeeper after seeing time there in nine games last year. Key returning defenders are seniors Tyler Braun, Ryan Clines, Carter Goodman, Max Keller, juniors Andrew Lusby, Austin Twehues and sophomore Max Runge.
Dunlevy listed three players the staff can put all over the field in seniors Tyler Smith, Brennan Callahan and junior Alex Runge. Sophomore Samuel Chirumbolo returns with experience at midfield along with senior forward Landon Guidugli and sophomore forward/midfielder Kyle Piscitello.
Smith had a team-high 17 goals to go with 13 assists last year and Guidugli scored 10 goals. Alex Runge had a team-high 14 assists. Smith agreed it is vital for Brossart to find ways to improve on a daily basis.
“Usually the seniors will talk to everyone before practice and make sure everyone is focused and ready to go for practice,” Smith said. “Then after practice, we cool down. That’s when we chat and we prepare for the upcoming games at practices. Then we’ll talk about what we worked on in practice to get better.”
Dunlevy said the team flexed between a couple formations in the Bluegrass Games and the players adjusted well to them. Dunlevy also noted that mentality kept them in games at Bluegrass.
“I love the fact that I have very smart players,” Dunlevy said. “They’re very coachable and they understand the game well.”
Brossart opens the season at Conner on Aug. 10.
Campbell County Camels
The Camels took their lumps going 10-10-2 last year having no seniors.
The good news is Campbell County did make it back to the 10th Region Tournament for the second straight season and won its first region tournament game since 2019.
The Camels have the main core back starting with their two leading goal-scorers in senior forward/midfielders Noah Rittinger (21 goals) and Kaden Rose (11). Campbell County has 12 seniors this year.
“We have a lot of good players now,” Rittinger said. “We’re a lot stronger than last year. We had a lot of kids play club soccer.”
Campbell County looks to be balanced offensively. Junior forward/midfielder Austin Bush returns after scoring 10 goals along with senior forward/midfielder Broc Sorgenfrei and senior forward Tate Glass. Two players looking to make impacts at defender and midfielder are seniors Dylan Walters, James Besecker, Ethan Kaiser and sophomore Carlos Marquez.
“This is a senior class that has experience,” Newman said. “We’re hoping to lean on that and right the ship. From a fitness standpoint, they’re showing up early and staying later. They’re hungry. We have more focused group this season.”
Senior Brycen Faulkner returns at goalkeeper with junior defenders Blake Cole and Joey Enzweiler in front of him.
Campbell County opens the season Aug. 8 at Calvary Christian.
Scott Eagles
Second-year head coach Chris Rogers did not sugarcoat the challenges for Scott this year. Rogers said many opponents have a larger club presence making it hard to match up skill-wise, which will present scoring challenges. Thus, the goal is .500.
Rogers said the Eagles would love to pull off upsets. But he said the Eagles will have to slow down the pace, make the game predictable and take away passing games to do that. The Eagles may end up starting one or two freshmen.
“We’ve done two weeks of two-a-days and we’ve had guys out here every day for all the sessions,” Rogers said. “You don’t see guys complaining. They’re happy when they get here. The work ethic is amazing. That’s the only way we’ll succeed is to outwork teams.”
Scott graduated eight seniors from last year’s team that finished 7-12-2, losing 2-1 to Campbell County in the district semifinals. The biggest loss is the leading goal-scorer with 15 goals and five assists in Carlos Marshall.
Senior Marshal Minor is the main returning defender and senior Aiden Taylor returns at goalkeeper after recording 135 saves and two shutouts last year. Other key defenders are senior Carson Wiggins, junior Conner Schawe and sophomore Ethan Tetzel.
Rogers said he’d like to see the seven seniors and upperclassmen train the younger generation. Rogers said the program has a good eighth grade class. His son Ethan at midfield and forward is the team’s leading producer with five goals and four assists. Senior Charlie Woodring is also a key returning forward.
Scott opens the season at Highlands on Aug. 8.
Calvary Christian Cougars
The Cougars struggled to a 1-17-1 season in Tanner Cox’s first year leading the program.
Calvary Christian had no seniors last year and lists two this season in defender Graham Hahn and defender/midfielder Carson Teter. The leading goal scorer and distributor last year was junior striker/midfielder Josh Ruwe with six goals and four assists.
Junior goalkeeper/defender Jonah Roszkowski is back after recording 285 saves last year.
Calvary plays host to Campbell County on Aug. 8.