G. Michael Graham Photo. Newport Central Catholic junior midfielder Noah Connolly (white) battles a St. Henry defender for control of the ball in Thursday's All "A" 9th Region championship game. The Thoroughbreds won 5-1 to improve to 3-1-1 overall.
By G. MICHAEL GRAHAM
Fort Thomas Matters Sports Reporter
SILVER
GROVE – The long-term goal for the Newport Central Catholic Thoroughbreds boys
soccer program is about pride.
This
program is the only male program in the school that has not won an All “A”
state championship. They’d love to join the NewCath basketball and baseball
programs that won the All “A” championships last year in addition to the
football team winning the Class 2A title. On the female side, the basketball
and soccer teams have captured All “A” state championships.
While there
is still a ways to go, the Thoroughbreds took a major step Thursday at Morscher
Field near Silver Grove. NewCath started off hot and beat the rival St. Henry
Crusaders, 5-1 in the All “A” 9th Region championship game.
NewCath
scored two quick goals and added to that lead. The Thoroughbreds led 4-0 at
halftime.
“We’ve prepared well for this team,” said Mike McDonald, NewCath head coach. “(The Crusaders) are a very good team. Our
kids knew they had to win 50/50 balls. Winning 50/50 balls in a high school
soccer game is where you win games. We found our wings. We found our feet early
and took advantage of our opportunities. We put them away early.”
They may
not have played a great second half. But it was more than enough to advance in
the tournament. NewCath (3-1-1) plays the 10th Region winner in a sub-sectonal
game at a time to be announced.
The 10th
Region All “A” Tournament has not started yet. But it has to be completed by
Sept. 22. The state tournament takes place in Elizabethtown on Sept. 28 and 29.
McDonald said he expects the opponent to be rival Bishop Brossart, which
finished 21-2 a year ago including a 2-1 win over NewCath in the 9th/10th All “A”
semifinals. The region tournaments separated this year unlike previous years.
NewCath did
make the All “A” state tournament two and three years ago. The Thoroughbreds
lost to Bardstown Bethlehem, 3-2 in the semifinals in 2011 after falling 5-1 to
Danville in the quarterfinals in 2010.
Matt Tolle
scored two quick goals just four and seven minutes into the game to put NewCath
up for good at 2-0. Junior Ryan Randle and senior Evan Brannon scored with
about 12 and two minutes left in the half to give the Thoroughbreds the
comfortable 4-0 halftime lead.
“We were just playing as a team,” Randle said. “We
were very focused. It’s about communication, passion and understanding how each
other plays.”
St. Henry (3-2)
did score on an indirect kick in the first half. But the goal did not count
because the Crusaders were ruled offside.
St. Henry
did dent the scoreboard in the second half. Cory Eibel scored as NewCath had
problems clearing the ball. But NewCath did clear many balls in its defensive
box.
“We just really needed to play our game in the back,
which is to stay calm and composed,”
said Nick Huesman, NewCath senior defender. “We had to get (the ball) out of (the defensive third) quickly because
we know (the Crusaders) are fast up top. We stayed with our marks.”
Minutes
later, the Thoroughbreds responded. Patrick Louis scored on a penalty kick to
make the final score.
“It was a tail of two halves,” McDonald said. “It
looked like we became spectators in the second half instead of coming out and
winning balls. We were letting them win balls first. Then we had to defend
right away. We ended up scoring a late goal. But a soccer game is 80 minutes.
It’s not one half. We have to get in that habit because we have a tough
schedule coming up.”
NewCath
outshot St. Henry, 13-4. Goalkeeper Kevin Cawley made eight saves for the
Crusaders and Paul Grosser made three for the Thoroughbreds. Both teams played
4-4-2 (defender-midfielder-forward) attacks. But St. Henry had its sweeper high
and NewCath took advantage of it.
The
Thoroughbreds continue action Tuesday at home against Cooper. Game time is 6
p.m.
