Highlands downs NewCath, 2-0

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

It was as even of a game as expected.

The Highlands Bluebirds and Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds soccer teams got off 11 shots a piece. But the Bluebirds connected on two of them in a 2-0 victory on Saturday at Tower Park.

The Bluebirds snapped a three-game winless streak to move to 7-6-2 overall and 2-4-2 since starting the year 5-2. They also moved to 11-0-2 against NewCath since 2004.

“It does not matter if we’re having a good year, an off year or if they’re having a good year or off year, this is always a fantastic game,” said Matthew Winkler, Highlands head coach. “(NewCath head coach) Mike (McDonald) and I get along really well so it’s fun to bring the squads together and see where we are. After the last couple weeks, it’s really nice to have a decent win. We’ll see where we can go from there.”

NewCath dropped to 2-6-4. The Thoroughbreds once again played good defense but could not manufacture goals. They’ve been outscored 20-14 this year.

“We made big mistakes in the back,” McDonald said. “When we do that, we give up goals. That’s what it came down to (Saturday). Once we get everybody on the same page playing as a team, we’ll be good. We have talent all over the field. We just have to put it together.”

Both goalkeepers made big saves with a lot of help defensively. Highlands goalkeeper Nick Breslin made 11 saves and NewCath counterpart Nathan Grosser made nine. Highlands defenders like Jimmy Penrod, Alex Shepherd and Franklin Graves constantly booted balls away from the goal.

“We work well together,” Penrod said. “We have some big guys to mark their big guys. We can get the corner (kicks) out and prevent (opponents) from scoring goals.”

Cole Davis-Roberts scored the winning goal for the Bluebirds with 13:10 left in the first half. He dribbled in front of the goal and drew a foul. Davis-Roberts hit the penalty kick minutes later.

“It’s the same thing every time,” Davis-Roberts said. “You have to calm down, take a few deep breaths, get over the ball and strike it nice. You are not hitting it over and away from the net.”

Davis-Roberts came up huge in the second half. NewCath had some shots in front of the net. But with 23 minutes left in the game, he booted one out.

“We switched formations midway through the first half and stuck with it midway through the second half,” Winkler said. “We went to a 3-4-3 (defender-midfielder-forward set) and it really helped out. I’m encouraged by what I saw. There’s still room for improvement. We have two more weeks to get ready for that.”

After crumbling a couple times in the final 20 minutes this year, Highlands scored to give itself some breathing room. NewCath received a free kick and Highlands booted it out. After NewCath misplayed the ball, Alex Schmits took the ball and dribbled it up the right side in a 2-on-1. He dribbled away from the NewCath defender and past Grosser for the score with 10:25 left in the game.

NewCath did have 10 free kicks to three for Highlands. The Bluebirds also received two yellow cards to none for the Thoroughbreds.

Highlands faces Calvary Christian at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and NewCath travels to Simon Kenton for an 8 p.m. contest.

NewCath ties Dixie Heights:

The Throughbreds came back and tied Dixie Heights, 1-1 Saturday night.

Patrick Louis scored the goal for NewCath (2-6-5) and Matt Tolle had the assist. Paul Grosser had 12 saves at goalkeeper for the Throughbreds.