The game had its usual intensity, especially with a shot at the top seed in the district tournament on the line.
The teams scored twice in the last 10 minutes. But the Ryle Raiders (12-2) scored the final one to edge the host Cooper Jaguars, 2-1 for their 12th straight win.
“We just played smart. I feel like I kept a lot of players calm,” said Jake McCann, Ryle senior. “They all played great. We could have played better. It wasn’t our best. But we all kept our emotions down, got the game in and won.”
The game-winning goal came when Diego Hoenderkamp drew a foul for a free kick near midfield. Hoenderkamp booted it far into the box and Josh Line headed it into the goal for his 10th of the year with 4:01 left in the game.
“We’ve been in these situations before,” said Stephen Collins, Ryle head coach. “Cooper always plays us tough. They’re a physical team.”
The game winner came after Cooper (5-4-4) tied the game just under four minutes before that. Senior Landon Hughes drew a penalty in the box and hit the penalty kick.
Ryle outshot Cooper, 15-8. Raider senior goalkeeper Landon Barth recorded six saves and Cooper goalkeeper Carson Morgan had nine.
Hoenderkamp gave the Raiders the lead in the first half with his 16th goal of the season, tying Brice Denigan for the team lead.
Both teams conclude district seed play Thursday. Ryle plays host to Boone County (6-8) at 7:45 p.m. and Cooper plays host to Conner (7-5-1) at 8 p.m.
Newport Central Catholic 2, Dixie Heights 1
The Thoroughbreds won their fourth in a row, taking the 9th Region game.
Ryan Desmond scored both goals for the Thoroughbreds (12-3). Vinny Petroze and Colin O’Dea had assists with goalkeeper Mason McCloskey recording four saves.
NewCath takes on Murray (12-3) in the All “A” State Quarterfinals at Louisville Collegiate at 3 p.m. Saturday. Dixie Heights (6-7-1) plays at Highlands (8-4-2) on Thursday at 7:45 p.m.
Other Boys Soccer Scores
Bryan Station 4, Campbell County 1
Beechwood 7, Walton-Verona 0
Boone County 3, Scott 1
Grant County 1, St. Henry 0
Henry County 5, Holmes 4
Holy Cross 0, Bishop Brossart 0
Covington Catholic 1, Lexington Catholic 1
Simon Kenton 8, Pendleton County 0
Villa Madonna 10, Covington Latin 0
Calvary Christian 9, Paris 1
Volleyball
Highlands 3, Bishop Brossart 0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-14)
The host Bluebirds won the county rivalry game controlling the net.
Highlands (13-11) put up 14 blocks, 39 kills, 41 digs, 38 assists and eight aces controlling the net in this one. Lyla Bottom had nine kills and four blocks with Rachel Ossege recording 18 kills. Maggie Carnohan and Sydney Schomaker had three blocks each.
“We did a great job of neutralizing a lot of their attack,” said Jim DeLong, Highlands head coach. “Even the balls that got through, we did a good job of digging them and transitioning the offense. Lyla Bottom had a huge night – easily the best she’s played for us this year. She played well against Newport Central Catholic last week so she’s really starting to figure things out for us.”
Hayden Gessner, Ossege and Annie Ellison set things up with nine, seven and five digs respectively. Setters Ava Muzumdar and Ella Cox had 21 and 17 assists respectively with Gessner and Ellie Mohr landing two aces each.
Brossart had 54 digs, 17 assists, 19 kills, four assisted blocks and four aces. Maddie Kremer once again led the Mustangs with 26 digs and Aubrey Rebholz had a team-high 14 assists. Addison Doughman led the Mustangs with six kills and Kate Neltner added 11 digs.
“We wanted to have big blocks because we were going against some pretty tall players,” Bottom said. “But I think we did well as a team and talked a lot. We work in practice on hitting specific seams and Coach DeLong does a great job teaching us where to hit. We’re doing really well.”
Highlands plays host to Ryle (14-9) on Thursday at 7 p.m. Brossart plays at Scott (14-11) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Notre Dame 3, Holy Cross 0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-8)
The Pandas dominated the 35th District rivalry match-up.
Notre Dame (16-1) had 35 kills, seven blocks, 33 assists, 43 digs and eight aces. Grace Portwood led Notre Dame with 12 kills with Ava Tilden contributing seven. Audrey Dyas had a team-high three blocks.
Lizzy Larkins and Lauren Ott set up the Notre Dame offense with 15 and 11 assists respectively. Lacey Hostetler had eight digs and two aces. Julia Grace and Hannah Danneberg had five digs and two aces each.
Julia Hunt had 12 kills, three blocks, one ace and eight digs to lead Holy Cross (20-7).
Holy Cross next plays host to East Central (Indiana) on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Ryle 3, Dixie Heights 0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-10)
The Raiders took care of business on the 9th Region road.
Ryle (14-9) had 30 kills, 32 assists, nine aces and 38 digs with Abby Lester recording three blocks for her 100th career block. Kiana Dinn led the Raiders with 15 kills. Morgan Heater had 17 assists and recorded her 500th career dig. Alexis Woolf had seven digs and four aces.
Maggie Best led Dixie Heights (8-11) with 13 kills and eight digs. Christen Tarter had 18 digs with Maddie Kelly contributing 17 assists.
Dixie Heights plays host to Notre Dame (16-11) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Ryle plays at Highlands (13-11) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Newport Central Catholic 3, Lloyd Memorial 0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-16)
The Thoroughbreds defended the Hill with a 9th Region win.
NewCath (8-14) had 26 kills, 23 assists, 44 digs, 10 aces and three assisted blocks. Kori Reckers led the Thoroughbreds with nine kills, nine digs and five assists. Vivi Fassler had 11 assists with Elena Henderson recording six kills. Peytin Reckers had a team-high 13 digs.
NewCath plays at St. Henry (21-7) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Lloyd Memorial (8-12) plays at Conner (18-4) on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Grant County 2, Calvary Christian 0 (25-21, 25-22)
The Cougars lost on the road in non-region action.
Calvary Christian (13-7) had 42 digs, 21 assists, 21 kills, three aces and one solo block. Anna Hickey led Calvary with nine kills and Savannah Ryan had 18 assists and nine digs. Anna Hickey and Alexis Hickey had 10 digs each and Ella Mulling added nine.
Calvary plays at Bellevue (8-7) on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Other Volleyball Scores
Bellevue 2, Holmes 0 (25-7, 25-5)
Campbell County 3, Boone County 0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-16)
Dayton 2, Heritage Academy 0 (25-9, 25-13)
Villa Madonna 2, Ludlow 0 (25-12, 25-20)
Mason County 2, Newport 0 (25-9, 25-14)