By Brett Bibbins
NKyTribune contributor
Pouring rain and gusting winds set the scene at Dixie Heights High School for the championship game of the 9th Region boys’ soccer tournament Saturday night between the Ryle Raiders and Covington Catholic Colonels, a matchup of the two best defensive teams in Northern Kentucky.
Both teams were kept off the scoreboard through regulation and two periods of golden-goal extra time. The first time a ball managed to find the back of the net was in penalty kicks. The Colonels connected on all five of their PKs and the Raiders scored on four, giving CovCath the title of 9th Region champions.
Heading into the regional tournament, CovCath had not lost to a team from the state of Kentucky all season. The Colonels’ worst results against state schools were ties with Trinity and Ryle. Just over a month ago, the Colonels and Raiders squared off in a defensive battle ending in a 0-0 tie.
Fast forward to the finals of the 9th Region tournament, and Cov Cath and Ryle were matched up yet again. This time, with a spot in the Sweet 16 of the state playoffs on the line.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, especially with this being the 9th Region final,” said CovCath goalkeeper Sam Romes, the tournament MVP. “We knew not to give them anything and just come out and give it all we got.”
Defense hadn’t been a problem all year for the Colonels. With their strong back line and goalkeeping, they had posted 13 shutouts and given up 15 goals in 23 games this season. Ryle’s defense was no slouch either, giving up only 23 goals in 24 games, second best in the 9th Region behind CovCath.
The two teams traded offensive attacks all night long only to have every single one thwarted by strong defensive play from the opposing team.
After falling last year to St. Henry in the championship game of the 9th Region Tournament on penalty kicks, the Colonels managed to avoid the same fate this season, edging the Raiders in PKs thanks to a huge save by Romes on Ryle’s second attempt.
CovCath was perfect in their round of penalty kicks with goals coming from all five shooters, Jacob Litzler, Griffin Lamb, Bryce Day, Michael Vogt and Cole Stava.
Covington Catholic plays at 10th Region champion Montgomery County in the sectional round of the state playoffs at 7 p.m. Monday.
“We played them earlier in the season and got a 4-0 win,” Romes said. “But we’re throwing that out the window. We’re going to play them how we would any other team and hopefully we get that win.”
This is the first time since 2009 that Cov Cath has been crowned regional champion and advanced to the state playoffs, a feat that they’ve worked so hard to accomplish.
“I’m so proud of these guys,” Romes said. “It’s something special. All of these teams want the spot we’re in right now so we’re going to go out and make the 9th Region proud and hopefully we can bring back some hardware.”
The 9th Region all-Tournament team nominees from CovCath included Romes, Day, Michael Wessels and Ben Darpel. The nominees from Ryle were Victor Pastrana, Matt Roe and Kareem El-Gusain.