Trips to Eastern Kentucky for Covington Catholic and the Highlands girls soccer program were quite the success on Saturday.
The Colonels disposed of Prestonsburg 5-0 in the boys KHSAA state soccer tournament quarterfinals while Highlands defeated Johnson Central 6-0 in the girls KHSAA state soccer tournament quarterfinals.
Both are now headed to Lexington. CovCath faces South Oldham on Tuesday at Paul Laurence Dunbar in the semis, Highlands gets Central Hardin in Wednesday’s semifinals at Dunbar.
COVINGTON CATHOLIC 5, PRESTONSBURG 0
Five different Colonels found the back of the net in the victory.
Cole Spaulding, Brady Dalton, Cole Bishop, Sam Stout and Ethan Eibel all scored with assists from Bishop and Cole Kokocinski. Booker Gifford and Ryan Roeding combined for the shutout in net.
It runs CovCath’s record to 17-7-2, making their first trip to the semis since 2021. They’ll play South Oldham on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The winner heads to Saturday’s state championship against the Bryan Station/St. Xavier winner at Lexington Sporting Club at 4 p.m.
HIGHLANDS 6, JOHNSON CENTRAL 0
The Bluebirds earned their sixth shutout in their last seven games as they breezed into the semifinals.
It was 1-0 at half before Highlands poured it on in the second half. Reese Wilkens scored two goals, Loralie Manning, Maddy Lickert, Gabby Simons and Allie Lickert also finding the back of the net.
Kaylee Mills initiated a lot of the offense with three assists in the match. Ally Lickert and Hope Darnell also added assists while Bailee Class earned the clean sheet needing just one save.
Highlands (14-9-2) has now won seven in a row and 11 of their last 13 heading into Wednesday’s semifinals. They’ll play Central Hardin at 4:30 p.m. The winner faces the Lexington Catholic/Sacred Heart winner in Saturday’s state championship at Lexington Sporting Club on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m.