GEORGETOWN, Ky. – Covington Catholic was able to bounce back from one deficit. But the second one, against defending state champion Louisville St. Xavier, was too much for the Colonels to overcome.
The Tigers scored three straight goals in the second half to beat CovCath, 4-1 in a state semifinal at Georgetown College on Wednesday.
CovCath coach Al Hertsenberg hugged his nephew, senior midfielder Matt McDonald after the game, and McDonald said, “It’s a great run. It’s a great run.”
“So already they see what they did,” Hertsenberg said. “They’re disappointed but they’re not going to regret anything.
“I’m proud of them.”
St. Xavier senior striker Tyler Riggs finished with two goals and one assist. Sophomore Sam Mullen scored the lone goal for the Colonels, giving him a tally in four straight games and four of the last five CovCath goals.
St. Xavier was flying around the field to start the game. Just two minutes in, senior striker/midfielder Taylor Parker put a shot off the crossbar, back off CovCath senior goalkeeper Brett Futscher and off the post before Futscher was able to cover it.
A minute later, Riggs blasted a shot that Futscher was able to dive and turn aside.
But CovCath started getting some pressure on the Tigers’ net starting at the eight-minute mark.
The Colonels did not get a decent look at the St. Xavier net, but at least were able to generate a shot that went over the net and a corner kick that did not result in a shot.
Then Riggs knocked a left-footed shot into the lower right corner of the net at the 15:27 mark of the first half to give the Tigers the lead, 1-0.
However, just 1:18 later Mullen blasted a loose ball into the back of the net to tie the score, 1-1.
CovCath had a chance to take the lead a few minutes later. Senior forward Michael Huffmyer dished a pass to senior midfielder Evan Haag, and Haag’s shot was tipped over the net junior goalkeeper Oliver Brown with 15 minutes left until halftime.
“We went into halftime, not cocky but confident,” Hertsenberg said. “Then in the second half I thought it was more St. X (in control).”
The Colonels kept the pressure on early in the second half, forcing Brown to make two saves in the first 12 minutes.
But just as CovCath seemed to be in control, Riggs drove in and recorded an unassisted goal with 23:53 remaining to make it 2-1.
“That was the inch we needed to kind of hunker down,” St. Xavier coach Andy Schulten said. “CovCath – after we scored that first goal, they came back and they smashed us in the mouth. They punched us hard and it staggered us. We were on our heels the rest of that half, and we got our bearings a little bit at halftime.”
The goal seemed to deflate CovCath, which only generated one good scoring chance the rest of the game.
“It was very demoralizing, especially because we snuck in that first one and we weren’t sure if we were going to, but we answered right away,” Mullen said.
Senior striker/midfielder Cameron Coppola took a pass from Riggs at the top of the box and left-footed it into the net with 16:35 left, giving St. Xavier a two-goal lead.
“They put that second goal in, and we still played hard. They put that third goal in and that was the coffin,” Hertsenberg said. “We weren’t able to muster up much after that.”
Less than five minutes later, Coppola centered a pass to sophomore striker Mitchell Metzger, whose diving header beat Futscher to make it 4-1 Tigers with 12:07 left.
“The game was a lot closer than the score, because they scored a goal and we kind of had to make some changes in the second half to try to get that goal back,” Mullen said. “And we knew we were leaving ourselves vulnerable, and they capitalized on the opportunity.”
CovCath loses several key seniors, including Futscher, McDonald and Huffmyer – who set the team’s single-season assist record. But leading goal scorer Evan Talkers, Mullen and versatile Sean Cooney were all sophomores this year.
“This team is going to be fine,” Hertsenberg said. “The Colonels will be back, no doubt about it.” HALFTIME: 1-1. GOALS: SX—Riggs 2, Coppola 2. CC—Mullen. RECORDS: St. Xavier 22-1-1, CovCath 14-7-1.
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