Monday Highlands Results

Highlands Girls Soccer Ties East Central

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands senior Kelsey Mathis (12) gets in position against East Central on Monday.

It was one of those games where the team scored in the first half and hoped to make it stand.

Sophomore forward Chloe Bramble put the Highlands Bluebirds girls soccer (9-1-5 overall) team up 1-0  just 12 minutes into the game. Bramble's team-high eighth goal of the season and the second assist from senior midfielder Natalie Ossege stood for a long time.

But the visiting East Central (from St. Leon, Indiana) Trojans tied the game with six minutes to go. Highlands could not answer so the teams settled for a tie.

"Earlier in the year at that moment, we would have gone five in the back to kind of lock down the game," said Alex Dean, Highlands Head Coach. "But we wanted to try something new to see if we could kind of finish it out with only having four in the back. It didn't really work out, but that's something that we learned. It's nothing against the girls. (East Central) had a nice goal and it was unlucky. That's something we're going to clean up. Hopefully, it doesn't happen again."

Highlands had 14 shots with three on goal and East Central had eight with six on goal. Highlands junior goalkeeper Jasmine Rehberger had five saves.

The ball stayed in the attacking 18-foot box briefly in the game's final six minutes when Highlands sophomore Faith Broering dribbled left and passed the ball to the middle. But East Central deflected the ball and cleared it.

"I said at the beginning of the season that goal-scoring is going to be different with the loss of a couple key players," Dean said. "(Junior) Kenzie Nehus is back (from injury). She's hopefully going to create more scoring once she gets her feet wet. It was nice seeing that we were wanting to score more than we have in the past, but we still need to get four, five girls in the box and have girls sitting outside the 18 for a shot. There are a couple times where (East Central) cleared it and we had no one sitting out there for a shot. That's something we have to work on."

Highlands did have its Senior Night honoring the team's nine seniors. That included injured senior goalkeeper Maggie Hinegardner receiving a touch to start the game.

"It was really special to be able to get in there," Hinegardner said. "I really appreciate and want to thank Coach Dean for letting me start. Just kind of getting that moment was really awesome."

Highlands plays at Dixie Heights on Wednesday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Golf, Girls:
Highlands wins NKAC Division II title:

The Bluebirds won the crown at Devou Park in Covington. Highlands junior Ellie Rowland led the way shooting an 81.

Highlands plays in the 8th Region Tournament next Monday. It takes place at AJ Jolly Golf Course in Alexandria.

Football, Freshman:
Highlands 19, Covington Holmes 0:

The Bluebirds (5-0) won on the road. Wide receiver Seth Valliere hauled in a touchdown pass from quarterback Charlie Noon and had a two-point conversion run. Noon added a rushing touchdown. Kicker Davis Burleigh had a field goal and safety.

Highlands plays at home against Covington Catholic on Oct. 3. Game time is 6 p.m.