By: James Weber , jweber@communitypress.com
The CovCath Colonels celebrate their win in the state quarterfinals. Covington Catholic 2, Louisville Collegiate 0. KHSAA boys soccer state quarterfinals. Oct. 29, 2016. Lafayette HS. Lexington Ky.(Photo: James Weber/Community Recorder, James Weber/The Community Recorder)
LEXINGTON - Even facing a team with a state record 162 goals this season, the Covington Catholic boys soccer team didn't waver from its game plan.
The Colonels (21-5-2) posted their 16th shutout of the season and sixth out of seven postseason games with a 2-0 win over Louisville Collegiate Saturday afternoon at Lafayette High School.
The Colonels, who graduated 18 seniors from last year's state championship team, advanced to Thursday's semifinal against North Hardin (19-8-1).
"No one believed we could do it but we're just trying to win each game one by one," said senior defender Michael Vogt.
Collegiate (24-2-1) was ranked No. 1 in the state coaches poll and had not been shut out all season. A large portion of the Titans' goals had come against Class "A" competition, including 53 in six games to win the All "A" Classic state championship. However, the Titans knocked off traditional big-school powers St. Xavier and Trinity to win the Seventh Region championship after beating St. X to win the 26th District.
Against CovCath, Collegiate had one shot in the first half and nine for the game, three on goal. With Vogt leading the defense and directing traffic in the back, the Colonels rarely gave up a close scoring opportunity. Collegiate's best chance came with six minutes left on a close shot that went just wide of the goal.
"We were spot on on our defense," Vogt said. "We didn't want to let them turn on anything. We saw that on video. That's how they beat teams... We're all close. It's all about chemistry on defense. We just keep it tight and we can win games."
"We talked about being disciplined in the back and not letting them turn, try not to form any gaps in the back line," said CovCath head coach Jeremy Robertson. "This was going to be a game of who makes the mistakes. We were lucky enough to not make very many in our defensive third."
CovCath scored just three minutes into the game on a goal by junior Noah Wulfeck, his seventh of the season, coming off a corner kick by junior Dominic Russo.
"I got myself open and hit it as hard as I could," Wulfeck said. "It was huge. It got us started and we played well the rest of the game."
With the Titans playing forward late in the match, Griffin Lamb knocked in a wide-open shot from close range for his 32nd of the year.