Did the Highlands boys soccer team make it seven straight against Cambpell County?

G. Michael Graham Photo. Highlands junior Jason Schreiber (15) prepares to for a throw-in during Wednesday's game at Campbell County.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

ALEXANDRIA – The Highlands Bluebirds boys soccer team had been riding a defensive high in recent games.

The Bluebirds had not allowed a goal going 3-0-3 in their previous six games. The host Campbell County Camels broke that string with a goal in the first couple minutes.

The Camels made that goal stand in a 1-0 non-region victory over the defending 9th Region champions Wednesday. Campbell County had not beaten its former district rivals in six straight meetings dating back to a 2-1 win on Sept. 10, 2009 in Alexandria.

“Defense has definitely been our strong characteristic lately,” said Matthew Winkler, Highlands Head Coach. “We’ve been working hard on it. People are starting to get healthy. We’re getting close to full strength.”

The Camels are led by first-year head coach and former Highlands assistant Matt Ewald. Campbell County (5-5-2) suffered through a winless season in 2012. But they’ve won three straight.

“This is really the first game all season where they played hard for 80 minutes,” Ewald said. “They wanted it and there was a fire in their ways. They stepped out and made it happen. To get a shutout against a team like Highlands that has had some success recently, it’s nice. It was that step in the right direction.”

Highlands (3-7-5) outshot Campbell County, 12-7 including 7-3 on goal. The Bluebirds just could not finish.

“It’s more difficult to score when you’re down than when you’re even or ahead for sure,” Winkler said. “Campbell packed it in a little tighter in the second half. I would have done the same thing had I had the lead. It was a good win for them. We’ll take some stuff from it, move forward and be ready for the second week in October.”

The one goal of the game came with just 5:11 into the first half. Michael Dumaine booted a corner kick into the attacking zone that Troy Wolfzorn put into the goal.

“I don’t know if that was more about clearing the ball than tighter marks,” Winkler said. “Early in the game, our marks were a little bit loose. I think we figured out their top-caliber players at that point. We just weren’t in our groove yet. The second half was much better for us.”

Both goakeepers had good games between the pipes. Nick Breslin had three saves for Highlands and James Wilbers had six for Campbell County.

The game was played clean. Neither team had either a yellow or red card.

Highlands plays host to Pendleton County on Tuesday. Game time is 8 p.m.

Volleyball:

Newport Central Catholic 3, Boone County 0:

The Thoroughbreds moved back to .500 at 9-9 with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-14) home win Wednesday.

Setter Mikah Freppon had 24 assists. Rachel McDonald had 12 kills and five aces with Amanda Ruwe contributing 18 digs. Jamie Lohr and Keyaira Lankheit had five kills each.

The Thoroughbreds travel to Covington Holmes on Thursday. Game time is 6:30 p.m.

Soccer, Girls:

Notre Dame 5, Newport Central Catholic 1:

The Lady Breds (10-2-1) lost in the battle against the defending state champions.

NewCath. Taylor Tolle scored the lone NewCath goal on a nice assist from Michaela Ware.

NewCath travels to Scott on Saturday. Game time is 2 p.m.