Ava Meyer of Highlands, left, and Macie Feldman of Notre Dame race to gain control of a loose ball during the 9th Region girls championship match. (Photo by Bob Jackson)
By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
The last two Northern Kentucky teams to win state championships in boys and girls soccer are back in the playoffs.
In 9th Region championship matches on Saturday, Covington Catholic defeated Dixie Heights, 2-0, to take the boys title and Notre Dame remained undefeated with a 4-0 win over Highlands in the girls final to earn berths in state tournament brackets.
CovCath won the region’s first and only boys state title in 2015 and was state runner-up in 2016, but the Colonels did not make it to the playoffs the last four years. Notre Dame, a three-time girls state champion, is returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. The Pandas won the region’s last girls state title in 2013.
Austin Seng of Dixie Heights, left, and Jacob Brandenburg of CovCath make leaping attempts to win the ball in the 9th Region boys final. (Photo by Bob Jackson)
CovCath (11-8-5) will play a first-round match at Montgomery County (15-7-2) at 7 p.m. Monday. This is Montgomery County’s third straight appearance in the state playoffs as the 10th Region champion, but the Indians lost in the first round the last two years.
After getting off to a 2-6-5 start, CovCath has won nine of its last 11 matches. One of the Colonels’ losses during that late run was to Dixie Heights, the team they beat in the region final behind two goals by senior Colton Pieper.
In the first round of the girls state playoffs, Notre Dame (24-0-1) will play a home match against 10th Region champion Campbell County (19-4-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The undefeated Pandas have posted 22 shutouts in 25 games and one of came in a 5-0 win at Campbell County on Sept. 25.
Campbell County defeated Brossart, 2-0, in the 10th Region final on Saturday to earn its first state tournament berth since 2014. Junior goalkeeper Morgan Rawe made eight saves in the shutout with the Camels getting goals from midfielders Jenna Gies and Janell Frimpong-Mansoh.
Notre Dame senior goalkeeper Abby Breeze made six saves to notch her 21st shutout in the 9th Region final. The four Pandas who scored in that match — Macie Feldman, Kennedy Clark, Marina Ruthsatz and Eleanor Simkonis — have accounted for 59 of their team’s 104 goals this season.
The first-round winners in the boys and girls state soccer tournaments will play quarterfinal matches later in the week. The final two rounds of both state tournaments are scheduled for Oct. 27, 28 and 30 at Fredrick Douglass High School in Lexington. Complete schedules are on the khsaa.org website.
