LEXINGTON – The Covington Catholic boys soccer team took a long road, physically and metaphorically, to get to the KHSAA state championship game Saturday night.
The Colonels were under .500 with only six wins entering the postseason. Then, they caught fire, winning the Ninth Region and then taking four long bus rides south during the state tournament.
CovCath won its last three tournament games by the skin of its teeth, with a penalty-kick shootout win, an overtime win, and a 1-0 shutout of perennial power Daviess County.
The road ended with a 2-1 loss to Paul Laurence Dunbar in the state championship game Saturday night at Frederick Douglass High School.
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Dunbar won its fifth title and finished 22-3-1. CovCath finished 14-9-5 and missed out on its second state title, which is the only one by any Northern Kentucky boys squad. CovCath became the 11th state runner-up in Northern Kentucky history.
“It’s tough,” head coach Jeremy Robertson said. “Every game you play in, you want to win. But I’m proud of my guys, the way they fought this year, especially in the postseason.”
All the scoring came in the second half after Dunbar dominated the first 40 minutes. Dunbar outshot the Colonels 13-1, with seven shots on goal, and the Bulldogs consistently peppered the CovCath net with opportunities.
Dunbar’s Joany Chavez drew two yellow cards and was disqualified early in the first half.
Issac Cano was still on the field, and the Dunbar star scored his 34th goal of the season two minutes into the second half, connecting off of a corner kick.
CovCath tied it six minutes later after a hard free kick from about 25 yards by Jonathan Gallenstein. The keeper saved the shot but couldn’t control the ball, and senior Colton Pieper pounced on the rebound, his team-leading 10th of the year.
Dunbar scored with seven minutes left in the game on a shot from a well-placed cross. CovCath had two great chances after that, to no avail.
Robertson was proud of the way his team responded at halftime and these last few weeks overall.
“They aren’t happy right now, but they can keep their heads up,” Robertson said. “The road we have taken: If they can get through this, they can get through anything in life. This is a good learning moment for them. Later on, they’re going to be able to tell stories about their journey this year. It’s something they’re going to hold tight with.”
All-tournament picks were senior keeper Carter Eilers, junior Grey Jordan and senior Aiden Hemmer.
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