Notre Dame beats NewCath for 9th Region crown

Photo by G. MICHAEL Graham/Fort Thomas Matters. Members of the Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds watch after falling to defending state champion Notre Dame, 3-1 in the 9th Region title game at Ryle on Saturday. The Lady Breds finished the year 14-6-1 with a 36th District championship.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

UNION – The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds made the defending state soccer champions nervous hanging around for some time.

But the deeper Notre Dame Pandas scored twice in the last two minutes to one time for the Lady Breds and held on for a 3-1 win in the 9th Region championship Saturday at Ryle. Notre Dame won the regular-season meeting by the same score on Sept. 18.

“I think we settled down more in the second half,” said Kevin Turnick, NewCath head coach. “We talked to them about playing more possession and target-type soccer instead of just clearing the ball and setting up their attack. We took them out of the attack as much as we could. We played better in the second half than I thought we did the first half.”

Lady Breds soccer downs Lady Crusaders in 9th semifinals

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds found a spot in the 9th Region title game with a 1-0 victory over St. Henry on Thursday at Ryle.

This marks NewCath’s first appearance in a regional title game since 2005. The Lady Breds lost 1-0 on a shootout to eventual state champion Highlands in the 10th Region title game that year.

“It’s a good feeling,” said Kevin Turnick, NewCath head coach. “We have a big opportunity in front of us. I always tell the girls that great moments come from great opportunities. They’re continuing to develop themselves. We hope to take advantage of it.”

NewCath has won all three postseason contests by a 4-0 count to move to 14-5-1. The Lady Breds defeated Highlands, 2-0 in the 36th District title game before recording 1-0 victories over Covington Holy Cross and St. Henry. NewCath lost 1-0 to the Lady Crusaders (15-6-2) on Oct. 1 in a game called at halftime because of thunderstorms.

St. Henry came into the season looking to win its second state title in three years thanks to the return of standout senior Libby Leedom. Leedom has committed to play at the next level for the University of Dayton.

Lady Breds down Ladybirds for first district title since 2005

Photo by G. Michael Graham. The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds soccer team won its first district title since 2005 with a 2-0 win over Highlands on Thursday at Tower Park.

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

Both soccer teams knew they were headed to the 9th Region Tournament.

It was just a matter of pride and momentum unlike previous years in the old 19th District with Bishop Brossart and Campbell County.

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds came away with both in a 2-0 victory at Tower Park on Thursday. NewCath (12-5-1 overall) won its first district championship since 2005 and snapped a run of six consecutive district titles for the Ladybirds (3-10-3). Heavy thunder and lightning forced the cancellation of the regular season meeting for the two squads.

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.

Ladybirds, Lady Breds meet for annual tilt

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The two Northern Kentucky women’s soccer powers meet again for bragging rights Wednesday at Tower Park.

But it’s not like it was even a year ago in the old 19th District. The Highlands Ladybirds and Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds often met many times for postseason survival and seeding purposes in those days. The two battled Campbell County and Bishop Brossart to advance to the 10th Region tournament.

They both advance to the 9th Region Tournament this year. Bellevue and Dayton have teams but won’t participate in the 36th District Tournament.

Last year saw two tight battles. NewCath won the regular season game 3-2. But Highlands came back and beat the Lady Breds, 1-0 in the district semifinals. The Ladybirds won the district championship before falling 4-1 to eventual state champion Notre Dame in the 10th Region title game.

So far this season, NewCath has tasted victory way more than Highlands. The Lady Breds are 10-4-1 after losing 3-2 to Covington Holy Cross on Monday. Sam Bunzel and Christina Seibert scored goals for NewCath with Erin Ackerson making two saves. The Lady Breds have outscored opponents 51-16.

“I like their work ethic and commitment to keep getting better as the season goes,” said Kevin Turnick, NewCath head coach. “They are willing and eager to always learn more about the game and even play new positions if it benefits the overall team. We have stressed to always be accountable for your play on the field and learn from our opportunities. We have been very competitive in all of our games so far this season and our record and goals for and against prove that. Our scoring has been diverse and our defense has played solid so far.”

Meanwhile, Highlands has struggled to a 2-9-2 record against a tough schedule. The Ladybirds have been outscored 38-9 and have been shut out seven times.

“I think they’re a great group of girls. They’d obviously love to be winning more games,” said Tommy Kearns, Highands head coach. “But sometimes, the results don’t go your way. They come to practice every day and work hard. They’re trying to get bigger, faster and stronger every day. They know they’re playing better. We’re playing some of the best teams in the state to challenge ourselves for October.”

Freshmen Brooklynn Rivers has emerged as Highlands’ leading goal-scorer. She has six goals and junior Kelsey Etherton has scored two. Jesse Daley and Sarah Owen split time at goalkeeper for the Ladybirds. The Ladybirds have lost Kara Painter and Ava Abner for the year with injuries.

“Basically, we take one game at a time,” Owen said. “We look at what we’ve done well at that game and we learn from all our mistakes. We take the next play and the next game as the important one. Our fans should not let down on us because we’re not letting down.”

NewCath graduated a number of seniors from last year’s team that finished 16-6-1. That includes Olivia Huber and Aubrey Muench, the second and third-leading point-scorers in team history. But Seibert said the team chemistry has been great this year. The Lady Breds won the Poage Landings Tournament in Ashland and Russell earlier this season.

“I think any issue on the team is considered our issue,” Seibert said. “We take that to heart when someone else is hurting. We all help them do better on the field.”

The Lady Breds may be favored to win. But NewCath Sweeper Courtney Hagedorn said Highlands is still dangerous. Both teams run a 4-4-2 (defender-midfielder-forward) attack.

“They have a lot of speed up top,” Hagedorn said. “We’re going to do our best to mark up on them and contain them.”

The old saying in rivalry games goes, “Play with emotion, but don’t get emotional.” That could prove to be the case this year.

“One of the things we say here is ‘Be quick but don’t hurry,” Kearns said. “You need to play within yourselves and don’t try to do too much.”

Turnick has a simple way to handle emotion. He’s been the head coach of the Lady Breds since 1999.

“For 80 minutes, your focus should be on soccer and the role you play on the team,” Turnick said. “Keep your emotions in check and then at end of the game, you can celebrate.”

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Weekend Sports Briefs

By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM

Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds soccer team reached double-digits in the win column Saturday with a 6-1 win over the George Rogers Clark Lady Cardinals.

NewCath improved to 10-3-1 with the triumph and George Rogers Clark fell to 4-8. The Lady Breds are 4-1 in their last five games.

Sam Bunzel led NewCath with three goals. Christina Seibert followed with two goals and sister Lucy had another. Teammate Erin Ackerson made four saves in net.

NewCath faces Covington Holy Cross at 6 p.m. Monday.

Highlands volleyball drops five in Cake Classic:

The losing streak for the Highlands Ladybirds volleyball team hit 10 over the weekend as it lost all five matches in the Cake Classic.

Things started with a 2-0 loss (25-13, 25-15) to Beechwood for the second time this year on Friday. Jessica Ginter led Highlands with six kills. The other leaders for the Ladybirds were Kaitlin Hall with 11 assists, Sarah Schweitzer with two blocks, and Katie Van Curen with 14 digs.

Highlands then lost to Boone County, 2-0 (26-24, 25-18) on Saturday for the second time this season. Hall led the way with 11 assists and Sydney Lindeman had six kills and 14 digs. Mallory Seidel followed with three blocks and Ginter had two aces.

The Ladybirds then lost to Lexington Tates Creek, 2-0 (25-22, 27-25) to complete pool play. Ginter had six kills and two aces and Hall had 16 assists. Van Curen followed with 14 digs and Seidel had three blocks.

Highlands followed that with a third loss this season to Beechwood, 2-0 (25-21, 25-14). Hall had 14 assists and Van Curen 10 digs. Seidel followed with six kills.

The Ladybirds came close to earning their first win but came up a few plays short in a 2-1 defeat (15-25, 25-8, 15-17). Ginter had six kills with Hall recording eight assists and two blocks. Van Curen had 14 digs. Sarah Schweitzer had two blocks and Abby Schweitzer had four aces.

Highlands travels to Ryle on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Ladybirds fall at Woodford County:

The Highlands Ladybirds soccer team played better Saturday but came up short in a 2-1 loss at the Woodford County Lady Jackets.

The Ladybirds fell to 2-9-2 with the loss, including 0-6-1 in their last seven games. They are 0-9-2 against teams outside Boone County. Woodford County also beat Highlands, 3-1 on Sept. 12 in the Lexington Catholic Challenge Cup.

Kelsey Etherton scored the lone goal for the Ladybirds. At goalkeeper, Jesse Daley made three saves and Sarah Owen had one.

Highlands takes on Newport Central Catholic on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

NewCath volleyball loses four at Fall Classic:

The Newport Central Catholic Lady Breds lost all four matches in the Fall Classic at Mother of Mercy in Cincinnati. They are 8-18 overall.

NewCath lost to Findlay (Ohio) on Saturday, 2-0 (25-6, 25-9). Whitney Fields led the Lady Breds with three kills and Alyssa Maier had five assists with Maria Froendhoff making 11 digs.

The Lady Breds then lost 2-0 to Columbus Bishop Hartley, 2-0 (25-17, 25-17). Fields had four kills with Maier making 11 assists and Froendhoff nine digs.

On Sunday, NewCath fell 2-0 (25-8, 25-11) to Louisville Holy Cross. Five players had one kill each for the Lady Breds. Maier had four assists and Froendhoff 12 digs.

The Lady Breds finished the classic with a 2-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-4) loss to Lexington Henry Clay. Nikki Kiernan led NewCath with nine kills with Maier contributing 18 assists and Froendhoff 11 digs.

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