Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
This
matchup used to have plenty of implications for the old 19th District
Tournament.
But the
Kentucky High School Athletic Association shuffled around the districts making
them similar to the basketball districts. Thus, the Highlands Bluebirds and
Newport Central Catholic men’s soccer teams will battle each other mostly for
pride during Saturday’s regular season matchup and for Ninth Region seedings in
the District 36 championship game. District rivals Bellevue, Dayton and Newport
do not field men’s soccer squads.
Highlands
and NewCath battled Campbell County and Bishop Brossart to get to the 10th
Region tournament in the old 19th District. Highlands eliminated NewCath in
2010, 2009, 2008, 2006 and 2005 in the 19th semifinals.
Last year,
Highlands won the regular-season meeting 3-1. But NewCath won the District
Tournament and beat Covington Catholic to win the 10th Region title before
losing 1-0 at Montgomery County in the first round of the state tournament.
NewCath
eliminated Highlands, 1-0 in the 19th semifinals in 2004. Since then, it has
been all Highlands. The Bluebirds are 10-0-2 against their rivals just two
miles down the road during that time frame.
Both teams
need a win in big ways. The Bluebirds are just 1-4-2 in their last seven games
since starting the season 5-2, including big wins over Boone County and St.
Henry. The Bluebirds are 6-6-2 overall.
“The season is going well,” said Matthew Winkler, Highlands head coach. “Sure, there are games that I think we
should have won. Rebuilding each year is always a challenge and it takes time
to find the right mix for everyone. Someone that might play center-mid in club
might play defense in high school. I enjoy the group of guys that we have this
year and hope that they continue to work hard. We both have high goals for the
season and we intend to give it our best to meet these goals.”
