Ryle boys, St. Henry girls win soccer titles

Congratulations to the boys' and girls' soccer teams for advancing to the district championship game.  While the boys won in penalty kicks, the girls lost a close match 1-0.  Both squads will advance to the regional tournament next week.  Below is the NKY Enquirer article on the games and the boys' rivalry with St. Henry.  St. Henry, Ryle will meet yet again for title

By Matt Mulcahey • Enquirer contributor • October 15, 2010

When Cole Willoughby booted a game-clinching penalty kick against Henry Clay in mid-September, little did the Ryle junior know it would serve as his audition for taking the Raiders' most important shot of the year.
With a fourth straight 17th District title hanging in the balance after regulation and overtime weren't enough to unknot a 1-1 tie between St. Henry and the Raiders, Willoughby again found himself at the edge of the goal box with a chance to play the hero.

Knock the kick into the net and the Raiders win. Miss and the Crusaders have new life.

Willoughby peered at St. Henry goalie Nick Smith and felt him lean toward the right goal post. So he directed his kick into the opposite corner to give Ryle a 2-1 victory.

"(Ryle coach Stephen Collins) had confidence in me and that's all it takes," Willoughby said. "My teammates put me in the situation (to have a chance to end the game) and I just had to bury (that kick)."

The Raiders (16-2-5) and Crusaders (10-6-3) have met in six of the last seven postseasons in what has become one of Northern Kentucky's fiercest rivalries on the pitch. One of the teams has won the district every season since 2001.

"You don't have to say much (to your players) before the game," St. Henry coach Steve Hahn said. "If you're not up for the Ryle-St. Henry game, then you're probably playing the wrong sport."

St. Henry struck first in the 12th minute when Adam Nields sent a sliding shot bouncing into the net off a throw-in. Ryle tied the score in the 56th minute when senior Brett Uminger's corner kick was re-directed into the net by sophomore David Hester.

Once the game reached overtime, the Raiders converted their first three penalty kicks courtesy of Uminger, Kyle Sullivan and Curtis Lusco. The Crusaders missed their first two shots, setting up Willoughby's clinching kick.

In the finals of the girls' 17th District tourney, St. Henry continued a long-standing tradition as each player bit the championship trophy following the team's 1-0 victory over Ryle. With three straight district titles to go with region crows in 2008 and 2009, the Crusaders' eight senior starters have gnawed on more than their share of hardware.

Senior Kelsey O'Daniel ensured the latest set of St. Henry incisor prints with a score from 25 yards out in the 17th minute that found its way into the right corner of the net. A defender her first three seasons, O'Daniel moved up to midfielder halfway through this year. The goal was only the third of her career.

"She has always been one of our best ball strikers, but she never got a whole lot of opportunities (while playing defender)," St. Henry coach Steve Lorenz said. "When she gets a hold of something, it is driven and it is dangerous."

Both the Crusaders (18-2-1), ranked third in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches' poll, and the Raiders (9-7-6), ranked 10th, advance to the Ninth Region tournament. It is Ryle's sixth berth in the last seven years.