Ladybirds tie Ryle; NC volleyball, soccer win

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

UNION – It may not have been the desired result.

But the Highlands Ladybirds soccer team tied the host Ryle Lady Raiders, 1-1 Monday. Highlands (4-8-1) actually missed numerous chances to take the lead in against the Lady Raiders (10-1-1).

It marked a huge step forward because Highlands had been struggling in games decided by a goal. The Ladybirds are 1-6-1 in those games.”

“We spent a good hour and a half on film (Sunday) night,” said Brian Wiefering, Highlands Head Coach. “We got through 18 minutes of the game in an hour and a half. That’s how much we broke down the film of the games we watched. We had these girls memorizing x’s and o’s on every third of the field and they did it (Monday).”

Highlands and Ryle had played tight games in recent years. The teams tied 2-2 in the regular season last year. But the Ladybirds beat the Lady Raiders, 2-1 in overtime in the 9th Region semifinals at Dixie Heights.

Highlands outshot Ryle, 18-6 including 9-5 on goal. The Ladybirds also had six corner kicks to two for the Lady Raiders.

“We didn’t win because we didn’t finish and that’s okay,” Wiefering said. “It’s better than we didn’t win because we broke down in the middle of the field. We can work on that. We have not this kind of game where we’ve had this many shots. The next step is to stay composed in the box. They need to know not to shoot on three girls, bur drop it back in the box for someone to take the wide-open shot. We’ll get it.”

Both teams played two goalkeepers in the contest. Freshman Olivia McQueary played in the first half and sophomore Shannon Eaton played in the second half. McQueary had one save and Eaton made three. Eaton dove to block a wide-open Ryle shot near the right post with 3:45 remaining.

Ryle saw Emily Hayes start the game and make six saves. But Breanna Collins took over with 23:58 left in the game and made two saves.

But that marked one of the few shots Highlands allowed Ryle. Ladybird defenders such as Peyton Bankemper and Lydia Graves constantly booted balls back to the middle when Ryle tried to attack in their 4-3-3 (defender-midfielder-forward) attack.

“Our defense was really organized this game,” Bankemper said. “It keeps us motivated to keep organized and keep up the good work. We’ve had a hard schedule this year.”

Highlands had a few corner kicks early. Sophomore Kiersten Clukey booted in all the corner kicks. But Ryle booted them out.

Highlands hit the scoreboard with 17:11 remaining in the first half. Megan Reynolds crossed the ball into the middle. The ball came out to junior Hannah Culyer who booted it in to give the Ladybirds a 1-0 lead.

“I was on the back post,” Culyer said. “It went through a lot of girls. I just happened to be right there. It could have been any of us. I think our offense needs to crash the box more and be everywhere. We keep crashing back on defense when we should be thinking offense.”

Ryle came out with more energy in the second half. A boot into the attacking zone saw Karlene Zembrodt put it in just 4:49 into the half.

That fired up Highlands as the Ladybirds came out attacking hard. Their best chance to score came when Kylie Schuerman had a one-on-one shot out in the open. But

Highlands and Ryle split the sub-varsity contests. Ryle won the junior varsity game 1-0 and the Ladybird freshmen won 4-0.

Highlands travels to Boone County on Thursday. Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Florence.

Soccer, Girls:

Newport Central Catholic 3, Conner 1:

The Lady Breds (10-1-1) rebounded from their first loss of the year with a road win.

Loren Zimmerman scored two goals to lead NewCath and Jenna Ahlbrand scored the other one. Taylor Tolle had two assists and Ahlbrand made the other. Goalkeeper Meg Martin had six assists.

NewCath travels to Notre Dame on Wednesday. Game time is 5 p.m.

Volleyball:

Newport Central Catholic 3, Bishop Brossart 1:

The Thoroughbreds (8-9) defeated the visiting Lady Mustangs in the Hits for Chicks Breast Cancer Game, 25-19, 23-25, 25-11, 25-21.

Freshman Mikah Freppon had 31 assists and eight aces for NewCath. Rachel McDonald had 12 kills with Keyaira Lankheit adding 10. Amanda Ruwe had another good defensive game with 26 digs.

NewCath plays host to Boone County on Wednesday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.