By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
After winning 22 of 23 games with one tie, the Ryle boys soccer team’s remarkable run came to an end in the semifinals of the state tournament on Wednesday at Lexington Lafayette High School.
Louisville St. Xavier converted its last attempt in a penalty kick shootout to win the tiebreaker, 3-2, and come away with a 2-1 victory over the Raiders. The score was tied 1-1 after 80 minutes and neither team was able to put the ball in the net during two overtime periods.
Ryle ends the season with a 22-3-1 record. St. Xavier (23-3-3) will take on tournament host Lafayette (20-3-1) in the championship final at 4 p.m. Saturday.
The final stats showed St. Xavier with a 9-3 advantage in shots on goal, but the Tigers’ lone score came on a penalty kick by Trenton Kaskocsak with 3:20 left in the first half. Ryle senior goalkeeper Landon Barth made eight saves at the net to keep the game close.
The Raiders tied the score early in the second half. Senior defender Owen Schierberg booted a long free kick that came down in the penalty area and bounced to junior Chris Maraduaga. He had his back to the goal, but Maraduaga got a leg up and kicked the ball into the net.
Barth made a save during the overtime periods to keep the score tied and send it to a shootout. Both teams converted their first and fourth penalty kicks. On the fifth attempts, Ryle’s player put a ball over the crossbar and St. Xavier’s player got his shot past Barth.
This is the fourth time in the last seven years that Ryle has lost in the state semifinals. The Raiders were state runner-up in 2006 and 2011.