The Simon Kenton girls soccer team has taken its lumps this year.
But they have responded recently with two wins in their last three games, including a 3-2 win at home over the Dixie Heights Colonels in a county rivalry game. Cam Ruble scored all three goals for the Pioneers (5-7), tying Reese Johnson for the team lead with five on the season. Two came on free kicks and the other on a penalty kick.
“What I told the team after the game is that was a true team win,” said Hillary Johnson, Simon Kenton head coach. “We were positive. We had a high work ethic and we capitalized on the opportunities that were presented us, which is what we’ve been asking them to do all season. We knew we could. We just hadn’t been doing it all season.”
Dixie Heights outshot Simon Kenton, 8-6. Pioneer goalkeeper Fayth Tomlin had eight saves.
“We wanted every single 50/50 ball. You could tell by the way we won them,” said Avari Hall, Simon Kenton senior midfielder. “We took advantage of them, whether it was building out from them or playing the long ball to (sophomore) Alexis Howard up front.”
Karolyn Lighthall had both Dixie Heights (8-3) goals with Abby Parsons and Whitney Ragan adding assists. Lighthall has a team-high 11 goals on the season.
Both teams play again Saturday. Simon Kenton travels to Scott (6-4-1) for a 5:30 p.m. game and Dixie Heights travels to Morscher Field in Silver Grove to face Newport Central Catholic (2-9) at 11:30 a.m.
Girls Soccer
Cooper 4, Boone County 0
The Jaguars won the 33rd District seed home game, recording their second straight shutout and sixth of the season.
Emily Green, Claire Tveton, McKayla Harsley and Raegan Johnson scored the Cooper goals with Maleah Alexander tallying two assists. Alexa Shupe and Kamdyn Hamilton also had assists.
Cooper (6-3-2) travels to East Jessamine (6-3) on Monday at 8 p.m. Boone County (1-7) plays at Villa Madonna (5-4-1) on Friday at 5 p.m.
Beechwood 4, Holy Cross 0
Beechwood earned a 35th District victory over Holy Cross with a shutout to improve to 2-1 in district play.
Rylie Kidman had two goals and an assist, Grace Cottengim and Emma Swayne the other goals for the Tigers (6-4-1). Juliana Gutierrez, Macy Yelton and Riley Atmore dished out assists with Brooke Fowee collecting eight saves in net for her third shutout of the season.
Beechwood returns to action on Saturday at Conner at 10:30 a.m. Holy Cross (6-4) fell to 1-2 in district play and will head to Gatlinburg, Tennessee over the weekend to play in three games in the Smoky Mountain Cup starting on Friday with West Creek (TN).
Walton-Verona 4, Grant County 0
The Bearcats earned their fourth shutout in their last five games in the 32nd District seed victory over Grant County.
Campbell Christy, Kassidy Evans, Olivia Sams and Emma Landrum scored the goals for Walton-Verona (8-1-2). Landrum added an assist with Ava Fuller, Triniti Bauwens and Claire Sams also recording assists.
Brynn Willis made three saves for her sixth shutout of the season.
Walton-Verona plays at Woodford County on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The Bearcats have outscored opponents 54-10 on the season so far.
Other Girls Soccer Scores
Bishop Brossart 9, Villa Madonna 0
Calvary Christian 4, Dayton 0
Cincinnati McNicholas (Ohio) 3, Campbell County 1
Holmes 3, Covington Latin 1
St. Henry 5, Ryle 3
Volleyball
St. Henry, Beechwood advance to All “A” 9th Region title game
St. Henry and Beechwood will meet for the championship at 7 p.m. Thursday back at Newport Central Catholic. The winner advances to the All “A” State championship at Eastern Kentucky University on Sept. 15 and 16.
Beechwood (10-4) downed host NewCath, 2-0 (25-20, 25-15) in the first semifinal game. Skylr Estep led the Tigers with 15 assists with Rachel Lewandowski tallying six kills and two blocks.
NewCath (5-12) had 10 kills, one block, 10 assists, 28 digs and four aces in the loss. Paytin Reckers led the Thoroughbreds with 12 digs and Vivi Fassler served three aces. Lucy Simmons led NewCath with three kills.
St. Henry (9-5) quickly took care of Bellevue, 2-0 (25-5, 25-8) in the second semifinal game. The Crusaders had nine aces, 25 kills, one block, 25 assists and 16 digs. Macy Lentz dished out 18 assists and four aces with Madi Demler digging up six balls. Alivia Skidmore recorded eight kills with Paige VonEye tallying five kills and two blocks. Emily Helmers added three blocks.
NewCath travels to Bellevue (6-6) on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. 36th District seed game.
Other Volleyball Scores
Cooper 3, Boone County 0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-11)
Holy Cross 3, Holmes 0 (25-8, 25-7, 25-12)
Ludlow 2, Newport 0 (25-20, 25-22)
Notre Dame 3, Campbell County 0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-11)
Great Crossing 3, Ryle 2 (25-22, 25-16, 12-25, 19-25, 15-12)
Villa Madonna 2, Oldenburg Academy (Indiana) 1 (25-18, 13-25, 25-18)