By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Campbell County posted its first-ever state tournament victory in boys’ soccer and Ryle made a triumphant return to the state playoffs on a rainy Monday night.
Ryle midfielder Bailey Malkemus, No. 17, rushes over to hug teammate Chris Pastrana after he scored the Raiders’ second goal in a 2-0 win over Lexington Catholic. (Photo from Ryle soccer team’s Facebook account)
Campbell County won a home match against Mercer County, 2-0, on goals by Gabe Smallwood and Grady Houston to make up for last year when the Camels’ state tournament debut ended with a first-round loss.
Meanwhile, Ryle played its first state tournament match since 2011 and defeated Lexington Catholic, 2-0, in Lexington. It was the 15th shutout of the season for the Raiders and both of their goals were scored by players who came off the bench.
Ryle and Campbell County move on to the quarterfinal round that will be played Saturday, but the sites and times have not been determined.
Campbell County’s opponent will be Warren Central. Ryle will play the winner of the Corbin-Pikeville match that was cancelled Monday due to wet conditions and rescheduled for Tuesday night in Pikeville.
Ryle coach Stephen Collins said he doesn’t need to make the long drive to Pikeville to put together a scouting report on his team’s next opponnt.
“As a staff, we don’t do a ton of scouting all yea long,” Collins said. “We just believe if we play our style we’re tough to beat. Our philosophy is to go out and do our thing and not worry so much about what the other team does.”
That philosophy has carried the Raiders to a 22-2-2 record this season. They’ve won six straight matches in the playoffs and not allowed more than one goal in any of those six victories.
Andrew Roe
“It starts with the fact that we’ve got four senior defenders starting back there, three of which have been starting or playing a lot the last three years,” the coach said. “They know the system and know it all starts with defense.”
The four senior defenders are Andrew Roe, Daniel Heimerdinger, Clayton Lett, and Aiden Jordan. The coach said Heimerdinger had to sit out the last two matches with an injury, but junior Will Snyder has done a good job as his replacement.
The defenders worked together so well in Monday’s match that junior goalkeeper James Spindley made only four saves to record the shutout against Lexington Catholic.
The Raiders got their first goal in the 24th minute. That’s when freshman Lance Paul arched a corner kick over Lexington Catholic’s goalkeeper and his brother, junior Evan Paul, kicked it into the net from the far post.
“It’s something we do practice and it’s something we’ve been pretty successful with using multiple players,” Collins said of corner kicks. “We move players in and out and we’ve got four or five who are really good at it.”
Ryle junior Chris Pastrana got the team’s second goal in the 66th minute by taking advantage of a errant pass.
“It was a through ball to our other forward and the ball took a funny bounce off one of their defenders,” Collins said. “It ended up being one-v-one between Pastrana and the goalie. He got there first and kind of chipped it over the goalie.”
The girls’ soccer state tournament begins on Tuesday with eight sectional games that include 9th Region champ Notre Dame at Lexington Catholic at 7 p.m. and 8th Region champ Simon Kenton at North Bullitt at 7 p.m.
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