The only thing Covington Catholic shared with Dixie Heights in Edgewood Tuesday night in a 9th Region boys soccer clash was the nickname “Colonels.”
They kept the win for themselves.
CovCath handed the previously unbeaten Dixie team (8-1) their first loss of the season, 3-1, thanks to two second-half goals.
“We knew going in that they were undefeated and had been playing some pretty good ball,” Covington Catholic head coach Jeremy Robertson said. “We prepared ourselves, played our game and did what we do best.”
CovCath struck early in the sixth minute and added two more unanswered goals the rest of the match. Senior Cole Bishop scored two of the three goals. The team stayed persistent with seven shots on goal.
In front of a large crowd and Dixie’s student section, CovCath needed all the momentum they could get. Bishop’s first goal came less than 30 seconds after Lee Tucker put Dixie Heights on the board following a free kick from Trevor Bolte.
“High school soccer is all about momentum,” Dixie head coach Trey Crone said. “It can change just like that, and it did. We scored, they came back and got it. For the next few minutes, you could see their energy was up and we were kind of deflated, but I did feel like we responded well after that.”
After the match, Coach Robertson focused on consistency in the team’s huddle, a message the team displayed in the second half. Bishop scored his second goal with about 25 minutes left, and Tanner Robertson added another five minutes later.
“I was telling them after the game to be a consistent team with a high level of play,” Robertson said. “First half, emotions were running high. Unfortunately, the first minutes weren’t ours. They scored on the weak side, but then we scored right away. That’s happened to us before, so we made some changes on the field and ended up looking good out there.”
Dixie Heights came close in the second half but sent several shots wide or over the goal. Keeper Aiden Susner recorded four saves.
The goal remains the same for Dixie, as their first loss of the season is just a step toward returning to the top. A potential rematch with the defending Ninth Region champs may await in the postseason, and the night showed Dixie what they need to do to be ready.
“We can take this and learn a lot from it,” Crone said. “This team is senior-led. They have one goal, and that is to be in the region final and win the region championship. These guys are the defending champs, so they’re kind of the standard. We know where we have to be and what we have to work on.”
Dixie Heights, now 8-1, will look to bounce back Thursday evening in Edgewood against Newport Central Catholic at 8 p.m.
CovCath has now won five of their last six after starting the season 1-3, improving to 6-4-1. Their next match comes Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Highlands, starting a five-game home stretch.
More photos below, provided by Charles Bolton:
