Preview: No sleeping on Lafayette now as Generals reach boys soccer state semifinals
Lafayette has played with a chip on its shoulder this entire postseason, but if anyone’s sleeping on the Generals now, the wake-up call comes Wednesday when they face McCracken County in the boys soccer state semifinals on their home field at Ishmael Stadium.
The Generals, ranked No. 6 in the final Maher Rankings of the regular season, admitted they felt slighted as they went into their district and region tournaments without much media fanfare.
That’s partly due to their district and region also being home to Paul Laurence Dunbar, the two-time defending state champions with six state titles overall.
There’s no ignoring Lafayette this week as they rolled into the state semifinals after winning the 43rd District and 11th Region tournaments and their first two games of the state tournament — a 3-0 win over West Jessamine last Monday and a 5-0 win over Ashland Blazer on Saturday, both on the road.
“Sometimes we worry about, like, is the moment too big for these guys?” Lafayette coach Chris Grimm told the Huntington Herald-Dispatch after the win over Ashland. “We don’t have the experience, like the Dunbar team that went there back-to-back years. This is new to a lot of the guys. Even just getting out of our district is actually new to a lot of the guys, and man, they’ve just faced every challenge like it’s just another game.
“We’ve been really impressed just by their approach and their mentality, tackling each challenge that comes in front of us.”
Next up comes the No. 10 Mustangs, the champions of the 1st Region, at 4 p.m. Wednesday. The Mustangs are making their fourth straight trip to state and fifth overall. McCracken had not made it past the first round until this year and won its first and second round games this season via penalty kick shootouts.
On the other side of the bracket lies No. 2 St. Xavier, the 15-time state champions, and No. 5 Ryle out of the 9th Region. They kick off at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Here’s a look at this year’s boys soccer semifinalists.
LAFAYETTE (19-3-1)
Pedigree: 11th Region champion and 1990 state champion.
End of season rankings: Maher-6th; RPI-10th.
Stat stuffers: Alecx Castro, 16 goals, 7 assists; Nadeer Duek, 8 goals, 5 assists; Max Jacobs, 8 goals, 3 assists; Meshaki Shendela, 7 goals, 6 assists.
Tournament road: Beat West Jessamine 3-0; best Ashland Blazer 5-0.
Last meeting: Last met the Mustangs last season, a 1-0 win. They are 3-1 against McCracken all-time.
Common opponents with McCracken: Lost to Paul Laurence Dunbar 3-2 and won 2-1 on PKs; defeated Tates Creek 1-0.
Notes: Defender Sawyer Trowel was recently named the 11th Region’s defensive player of the year by the region’s coaches. Grimm was named coach of the year. Lafayette has four region titles (1984, 1987, 1990, 2023) since soccer became a fall sport in 1983. They currently play in one of the toughest districts in the state. Four out of the 43rd District’s five teams have won state titles: Lafayette, Dunbar, Lexington Catholic and Tates Creek.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY (20-3-2)
Pedigree: 1st Region champion making its fourth straight trip to state and its deepest run since the school was founded in 2013.
End of season rankings: Maher-10th; RPI-16th.
Stat stuffers: Johnny Stevens, 17 goals, 5 assists; Landon Grace, 11 goals, 8 assists; Nehemiah Ivey, 10 goals, 5 assists; Julian Warfield, 9 goals, 1 assist.
Tournament road: Beat Madisonville 3-2 (PKs), beat DeSales 2-1 (PKs).
Common opponents with Lafayette: Lost to Paul Laurence Dunbar 1-0; beat Tates Creek 1-0.
Notes: The Mustangs have given up fewer goals (14) than any of the other remaining teams and ranked first in that statistic in the state. Their 14 shutouts are second only to Ryle and South Warren (16).
RYLE (22-2-1)
Pedigree: 9th Region champion making second straight trip to state semifinals; two-time state runner-up (2006, 2011).
End of season rankings: Maher-5th; RPI-3rd.
Stat stuffers: Diego Hoenderkamp, 25 goals, 27 assists; Brice Denigan, 25 goals, 9 assists; Josh Line 14 goals, 10 assists.
Tournament road: Beat Bishop Brossart 5-0; beat North Laurel 6-0.
Last meeting: Last faced the Tigers in 2011.
Common opponents with St. Xavier: Lost to Frederick Douglass 3-0; lost to Henry Clay 3-2; tied Madisonville 3-3.
Notes: Hoenderkamp’s 27 assists rank third in the state and tops among final four teams. Ryle has a 22-game unbeaten streak, the longest among the teams remaining.
ST. XAVIER (22-3-3)
Pedigree: 7th Region champion and 15-time state champion who finished runner-up last season.
End of season rankings: Maher-2nd; RPI-6th.
Stat stuffers: Trip Campbell, 18 goals, 8 assists; Stone Work, 18 goals, 7 assists; Beckham Murrow, 10 goals, 10 assists.
Tournament road: Beat North Oldham 3-0; beat Daviess County 3-0.
Common opponents with Ryle: Lost to Frederick Douglass 3-2; beat Henry Clay 2-1; beat Madisonville 4-0.
Notes: St. X coach Andy Schulten is Kentucky boys soccer’s all-time coaching wins leader with a 531-90-43 record. He’s led the Tigers to the state title game 13 times and won 11 of them.
BOYS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
At Lafayette High School
Wednesday’s semifinals
4 p.m.: McCracken County (20-3-2) vs. Lafayette (19-3-1)
7:30 p.m.: Ryle (22-2-1) vs. St. Xavier (22-3-3)
Saturday’s finals
4 p.m.: Championship game
Preview: Boyle County gets set for program’s first girls state soccer semifinals
