Covington Catholic’s season ended exactly where every team in Kentucky wants to be — on the pitch at Lexington SC Stadium, playing for a state championship.
In the inaugural year the KHSAA boys’ soccer title was decided at the home of Lexington SC, the Colonels fell just short of the ultimate prize, dropping a 2-0 decision to St. Xavier on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers were in control for much of the match, dominating possession and creating nearly triple the scoring chances of CovCath. Yet, despite the constant pressure, the Colonels stayed within striking distance for nearly the entire match — a testament to their defensive resolve and the stellar play of goalkeeper Booker Gifford.
St. Xavier struck first just 10 minutes in, when Brady Youssefizad pounced on a rebound to give the Tigers an early 1-0 advantage.
“I was disappointed in the first 10 minutes when they scored,” Colonels coach Jeremy Robertson said. “We’re always worried about our first and 10 minutes in the last 10 minutes in a half. I told the coaches, if we get past the first 10 minutes without them doing any damage, we would be okay. They got a ball as a ricochet ball that just popped out, and the guy was open, and he just put it in.”
From there, Gifford and the CovCath back line stood tall, turning away wave after wave of St. X attacks. Gifford finished with six saves, several of them spectacular, before Trey White finally sealed the win with a goal in the closing minutes to make it 2-0.
“We were a little late on some things, as far as like coverage, and that gave them a lot of time and a lot of space on this big field,” Robertson said. “When you give a team like that a lot of time and a lot of space, you’re not going to have the ball as much as what you wish you would have.”
The loss ended Covington Catholic’s season with an 18-8-2 record and a runner-up finish in the state championship — their fourth appearance in the final since 2015, when they captured their lone state title. Though they’ve come up short in the three title matches since, this year’s run may have been the most improbable of them all.
After graduating 14 seniors from last year’s roster — including five of their top six goal scorers and their starting goalkeeper — few expected the Colonels to return to the state stage.
“These guys had a lot of grit. They all worked hard, work year round. I’m proud. There’s gonna be some holes we got to fill a little bit, but it’s no different than last year when we lost all those guys,” Robertson said.
But a new group came together, built its identity around a gritty defensive core and dependable goalkeeping, and rode that formula through a dramatic postseason run that included three victories in penalty kick shootouts.
Next season’s roster turnover won’t be as steep, with eight seniors set to depart, including All-State selection Tanner Robertson and leading scorer Cole Bishop. Still, the Colonels will return Gifford and several key contributors — a solid foundation for another deep run.
Robertson expressed confidence in the group he leaves behind, believing they can build on this year’s momentum and return to the pinnacle — right back here in Lexington at one of the state’s premier soccer venues.
“We’ll be back, we’ve got some talent coming through the pipeline,” Robertson said. “Got a lot of respect for St. X and I know Andy has a lot of respect for our program as well. It’s not the hardware that we wish that we would have came out on, but it’s still some hardware.”
Saturday’s victory for the Tigers marked a state tournament run in which they didn’t surrender a goal in any of the four state tournament games. They combined to outscore the opponent, 8-0.
“I don’t know what to say, because we gave up a lot of them during the season,” Tigers coach Andy Schulten said. “We build our season for the tournament and we have a big rotation of players, and sometimes that means you concede a lot of goals early on, but you learn from it.”
TIGERS 2, COLONELS 0
SAINT XAVIER — 1-1 — 2
COVINGTON CATHOLIC — 0-0 — 0
Game Stats
Goals: (SX) Youseffizad 10′, White 78′
Assists: (SX) Youseffizad
Shots (On Goal): Covington Catholic 6 (5), St. Xavier 17 (8)
Saves: Covington Catholic 6 (Gifford), St. Xavier 5 (Kron)
Corner Kicks: Covington Catholic 3, St. Xavier 6
Fouls: Covington Catholic 6, St. Xavier 9
Offsides: Covington Catholic 0, St. Xavier 2
Records: Covington Catholic 18-8-2, St. Xavier 23-2-3