Weekend Roundup: Schroeder Wins Region Cross Country Crown

Highlands Girls Soccer Loses on Penalty Kicks

Twitter Photo. Highlands senior Maggie Schroeder won the Class 2A, Region 4 meet Saturday in 18 minutes, 51.08 seconds.

Highlands senior Maggie Schroeder ran away for an individual Class 2A, Region 4 cross country championship at the Mason County Athletic Complex.

The senior and 2018 individual Class 2A state champion won the race in 18 minutes, 51.08 seconds. Scott freshman Maddie Strong took second in 19:21.57 out of 44 runners.

Both Highlands teams finished region runner-up. The Highlands girls missed out on the region crown by a point with 49 to Scott's 48. The Highlands boys scored the same amount. But Lexington Catholic won it with 36 points.

Highlands Girls Soccer Blanks NewCath

Bluebirds Roll to Fifth Straight District Crown

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands senior Kenzie Nehus (middle) and freshman Claire Cavacini (5) go after a corner kick in the 36th District championship Tuesday. Highlands won 6-0.

The first goal came just two minutes into the game.

The Highlands Bluebirds girls soccer team (12-1-2 overall) rolled to a fifth consecutive 36th District championship and 10th straight win over the arch-rival Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds (8-8) by a 6-0 count at Tower Park. The result is similar to what the Highlands boys soccer team did earlier Tuesday.

Highlands Monday Results

Bluebirds Tie Pandas

PHOTO: G. Michael Graham, Fort Thomas Matters. Highlands Girls Soccer Head Coach Alex Dean goes over strategy during halftime of the game against Notre Dame. The teams tied 1-1.

The lightning on the field came to full force as the arch-rivals met in the season-opener for the hosts at Tower Park.

But the lightning on the field forced the game to end early. That meant the Highlands Bluebirds girls soccer team and the Notre Dame Pandas (1-0-1) had to settle for a 1-1 tie.

"It's really hard playing your rival the very first game of the year, but I think it's kind of a good thing," said Alex Dean, Highlands Head Coach. "Leaving a big gap for if we do see them in the post-season, it's not, 'Oh, wait. We just saw them.' We have to adjust throughout the season. Things happen. We weren't worried about the score. Winning is always great. (But) it's making sure we're playing hard and we're out there trying to get a little more fit. We're a little slim on numbers. But we have faith in our girls. They all can play 80 minutes. Games like that will help us get to that."

Weekend Sports Briefs

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds soccer team broke through in a big way with a 9-0 win over the visiting Russell Red Devils on Saturday.

NewCath improved to 3-7-5 and snapped a five-game winless streak. Russell dropped to 7-8. The Thoroughbreds recorded their third shutout of the year behind five saves from Nathan Grosser.

Matt Tolle scored a hat trick of three goals for the Thorobreds and Cody Guthier scored twice. Evan Brannon, Connor Hanneken, Sam Barth and Kyle Simon scored the other goals for NewCath. Josh Liles had three assists for NewCath with Hanneken recording two. Jacob Hensley, Nathan Tackett and Brannon all added assists.

NewCath travels to Covington Holmes for a 6:45 p.m. contest Monday.

Lady Breds win:

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds soccer team knocked off Russell, 4-1 on Saturday.

The Lady Breds improved to 11-4-1 and Russell fell to 12-6.

NewCath has two home games remaining. The Lady Breds play host to St. Henry at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Highlands volleyball goes 2-3 in Louisville:

The Highlands Ladybirds went 2-3 in the Jefferson County Invitational in Louisville over the weekend.

Highlands lost to Covington Holy Cross, 2-0 (25-18, 25-23) and Owensboro Catholic, 2-0 (25-15, 25-20) on Friday in pool play to fall into the Bronze Bracket on Saturday.

Highlands won the first two games of the day to snap a 13-game losing streak. This included a 2-0 (25-8, 25-16) win over Fern Creek before falling in the Bronze title game, 2-1 (15-25, 25-21, 25-15) to Green County.

The Ladybirds (10-21) take on Bellevue on Senior Night on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Ladybirds soccer ties Boyle County:

The Highlands Ladybirds tied the Boyle County Lady Rebels, 0-0 on Saturday at Tower Park.

Jesse Daley played the entire game and made three saves in net for the Ladybirds. Highlands is 2-9-3 with the eight-game winless streak. The Ladybirds are 0-9-3 against teams outside of Boone County.

Highlands travels to Cooper at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Wednesday/Thursday Sports Briefs

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Bluebirds soccer team recorded a huge 1-0 victory over the Covington Catholic Colonels on Thursday.

Highlands has won three in a row to move to 9-6-2 overall. Covington Catholic, coach by former Highlands coach Jeremy Robertson, fell to 11-5-2.

Emerson Holladay scored the game’s only goal on an assist from Michael Cirulli. Nick Breslin recorded 10 saves at goalkeeper.

The Bluebirds take on Covington Holy Cross at 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Lightning cancels Highlands, NewCath women’s soccer game:

Lightning storms forced the postponement of Wednesday’s annual District 36 clash between the Highlands Ladybirds and Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds soccer teams. NCC head coach Kevin Turnick said a rescheduling of the game “does not look promising.”

The teams played the junior varsity contest then held Senior Night activities. The lightning started shortly thereafter.

The game is not needed for seeding purposes like the old days in District 19 with Bishop Brossart and Campbell County. The teams face off for the district title on Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. at Tower Park.

Both teams resume action Saturday. Highlands plays host to Boyle County at 7 p.m. and NewCath plays host to Russell.

Cooper beats NCC volleyball:

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds volleyball team fell to Conner, 3-0 (25-10, 25-22, 30-28) Wednesday. The Lady Breds are 9-19 overall.

NewCath played without two injured starters. Nikki Kiernan and Keyiara Lankeit led NCC with seven kills each. Alyssa Maier had 20 assists and Maria Froendhoff 16 digs to lead the Lady Breds.

NewCath travels to Simon Kenton on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday Sports Briefs

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
The Highlands Ladybirds volleyball team moved above .500 with a 25-9, 25-10 victory at the Holmes Lady Bulldogs on Thursday.
Highlands also beat Holmes in the September Slam on Saturday at Scott. The Ladybirds moved to 8-7 to move above .500 for the first time since starting the season 2-0. Holmes is 5-14.
Highlands travels to Conner on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
Ladybird soccer ties Campbell County:
Highlands turned things around in just more than 48 hours Thursday.
The Ladybirds turned in a much better showing in a 0-0 tie against the Campbell County Lady Camels.
Highlands lost 5-0 at Bishop Brossart on Tuesday. Highlands is 2-4-2 overall and the Lady Camels are 6-3-1.
The Ladybirds allowed just four shots after allowing 17 Tuesday. Senior goalkeeper Jesse Daley played the entire game and saved all four. Campbell County is led by senior Taylor Robinson.
Highlands plays host to South Oldham (3-4) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Highlands, Simon Kenton soccer cancelled:
Highlands' originally scheduled game against Simon Kenton was called off because of powder puff football.
The Bluebirds (5-3-1) hit the road to Louisville on Saturday to take on state power Louisville St. Xavier at 2:45 p.m. The Tigers are 8-0 entering the contest.
NCC volleyball falls to Boone County:
The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds volleyball team dropped a close one to the Boone County Lady Rebels, 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 28-26, 27-25) Thursday.
The Lady Breds fell to 4-9 with the loss and Boone County moved to 8-5. Nikki Kiernan had 13 kills and six blocks to lead NewCath. Alyssa Maier added 34 assists with Whitney Fields tallying five aces and Maria Froendhoff making 29 digs.
NewCath plays in the Louisville Volleyball Invitational Tournament today and Saturday.
NewCath, Cooper soccer cancelled:
The Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds soccer game at Cooper was cancelled because the field was too wet. The game will be made up on Sept. 18.
NewCath plays host to St. Henry at 3 p.m.

Highlands Girls Soccer Take Another Loss

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Ladybirds soccer team had another tough defeat Thursday to a state power.

The Lexington Catholic Lady Knights came to town and shut out Highlands, 4-0. This follows a 5-0 loss to St. Henry on Monday.

The Ladybirds dropped to 1-2 overall and LexCath improved to 2-1-2.

"We want to play the best teams in the state because come postseason, you have to beat the best teams in the state," said Tommy Kearns, Highlands head coach. "That way, October doesn't feel like a surprise. Lexington Catholic is a fine team. We have to continue to work hard to try to get to that level."

The Ladybirds once again saw an opponent score a hat trick. On Monday, reigning Kentucky Player of the Year Libby Leedom did it scoring three goals with an assist. The Lady Knights' Mary Beth Gorham did it Thursday with three goals.

Gorham put Lexington Catholic up for good with 3:07 left in the first half. She made a few moves and kicked one to the back of the net to put the Lady Knights up 1-0 at halftime after just missing moments earlier.

Gorham scored her second two goals within 3:18 of each other. The first came on a penalty kick.

"(Gorham) is really quick and skillful with the ball," Kearns said. "She hits as good of a shot with her right foot as anyone around here. Anytime you have that many strong players, it's tough to mark that many of them. Their speed caused us problems."

The Lady Knights added one more goal with 8:49 left in the game. It came off the foot of Tyler Patton.

The Lady Knights outshot the Ladybirds, 12-1. Jesse Daley and Sara Owen once again split time at goalkeeper for Highlands. Daley made six saves before Owen took over about midway through the second half. Owen made two saves.
Highlands had some shots go far and wide. Lady Knight goalkeeper Sarah Youkilis saved the Ladybirds' lone shot in the second half.

Highlands faces another tough challenge on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Ladybirds travel to Park Hills to take on the undefeated defending state champion Notre Dame Pandas (5-0).

Highlands Girls Soccer Drubbed by St. Henry

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands Girls Soccer Team Looks On As Coach Tommy Kearns Surveys The Field

The final score did not look good for the hosts.

But there were just two things that separated the women’s soccer teams in the St. Henry Crusaders’ 5-0 win over the Highlands Bluebirds on Monday at Tower Park.

That is Libby Leedom and the abilities to finish shots.

Leedom, the 5-foot-8-inch senior midfielder/forward, turned in a hat trick with three goals and an assist in the win. Leedom, a University of Dayton commit, scored 23 goals and had 13 assists last year and helped the Crusaders to the 2010 state championship. Highlands tried many things against Leedom out of its 4-4-2 (defender-midfielder-forward) attack.

“She is the front-runner for (Kentucky) Ms. Soccer for a reason,” Highlands head coach Tommy Kearns said of Leedom. “She’s an outstanding player. We had a game plan and she fought through it. She’s just very difficult to stop.”

St. Henry outshot Highlands, 10-5 and converted 50 percent of the shots. Crusader goalkeeper Morgan Potts turned back all five Bluebird shots.

In the other goal, Sara Owen played the first half for Highlands (1-1 overall) and made two saves. Senior Jesse Daley took over in the second half and made three saves.

St. Henry improved to 2-1 with the win. Crusader head coach Steve Lorenz told his girls this marked the first time he’d ever won at Tower Park as a head coach. Prior to coming to St. Henry, Lorenz spent four seasons as the head coach at Boone County.

Leedom scored her first two goals with 29:19 and 5:46 left in the first half. Teammate Jenna Litzler scored her first of two goals with less than two remaining in the half. Leedom made the hat trick with 27:17 left in the game and Litzler scored her second with 21:05 left in the half.

“We’re younger than we’ve been in about four or five years” Lorenz said. “I’ve got about six sophomores and a freshman on the roster. (Leedom) gives us a wider margin for error early in the season so they get a chance to grow.”

Highlands had plenty of chances to avert the shutout in the game’s final 20 minutes. Allyson Bridewell hit one off the top of the crossbar with 19:06 remaining. Brooklynn Rivers had a big shot deflected wide by Potts with 14:40 left in the game and had another one go off the crossbar with 3:26 left in the game.

St. Henry had nine free kicks to three for Highlands. Only one yellow card came in the game. It was against Highlands.

“If any of those (shots) go in, it helps us on the score line,” Kearns said. “We created scoring opportunities. It’s just that none of them went into the back of the net. Credit their keeper (Potts). She made some excellent saves. She was definitely a difference-maker for them.”

Highlands then continues its tough week back at Tower Park against Lexington Catholic at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Lady Knights are 1-1-2 with a 4-2 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday.

Weekend Sports Report

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Highlands men’s soccer team edged Pendleton County, 4-3 on Saturday at Tower Park to improve to 2-0 overall.

Ethan Schmits led the Bluebirds with two goals. Teammates Devin Dupont and Chris Garbig had one each. Andrew Barnes, Mitchell Gesenhues and Jordan Jarvis had one assist a piece for Highlands.

The Wildcats (1-1) saw three different players score. Harper Aven, Travis Brinkman and Max Dewald had goals for Pendleton Countyh with Brinkman, MacKenzie Colvin and Jacob Farwell notching one assist each.

Highlands plays in the Kentucky Cup at Louisville Ballard this week. The Bluebirds open up with Louisville Collegiate on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Big week for Highlands women’s soccer:

The Highlands women’s soccer team will take on some tough competition this week.

It begins tonight with a battle against the St. Henry Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. at Tower Park. The Crusaders are 1-1 with a 5-0 win over Beechwood and a 2-1 loss at Woodford County on Saturday.

The Crusaders return 2011 Kentucky Player of the Year Libby Leedom, a 5-foot-8-inch midfielder/forward. Leedom, a University of Dayton commit, scored 23 goals and had 13 assists and led the Crusaders to the 2010 state championship.

Highlands then faces Lexington Catholic at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Lady Knights are 1-1-1 with a 4-2 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday. They tied Louisville Sacred Heart, 1-1 but knocked off Louisville Assumption, 2-0.

The week concludes with a trip to Park Hills to face the defending state champion Notre Dame Pandas on Saturday at 7 p.m. Notre Dame graduated a lot from last year, but does return senior all-state goalkeeper Olivia Voskuhl, senior striker Ellie Eckerle and senior defender Alex Lonnemann.

NewCath soccer gets first win:

After two close calls, the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds soccer team dented the win column with a 2-0 win over Covington Holy Cross on Saturday.

NewCath (1-2) dropped a tough one to Pendleton County, 1-0 on Thursday.

The Thoroughbreds play in the All “A” Regional Tournament at St. Henry later in the week.