Boys' state high school soccer semis: Henry Clay edges defending champ Bowling Green; Covington Catholic cruises

William Shakespeare wrote that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but you'd have a hard time telling that to Henry Clay after Wednesday night.

Midfielder Collin Rose struck for the game's only goal from well outside the penalty box after a Blue Devils' corner kick was cleared to him in the 38th minute. The low liner deflected off a Bowling Green defender and tumbled into the right corner past Purples keeper Ryan Hughes.

From there, Henry Clay withstood a furious assault on its own goal in the second half to knock off the defending state champions 1-0 and earn the Blue Devils their fourth appearance in the state title game.

They will go for the school's third state title when they meet Covington Catholic at 5 p.m. Saturday at Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Things ended in raucous fashion as the Purples tried to stage a late rally. In the waning seconds, Bowling Green's Edis Sinanovic earned his second yellow card of the match and an ejection, Collin McAllister (also Bowling Green) was issued a yellow and so was Henry Clay's Colby Rose. All told, six yellow cards were issued in the game.

Shot attempts finished at 10 apiece. Bowling Green finished with a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.

Rose was certain his difference-maker from about 22 yards out was going to be a misfire.

"I've missed 99 percent of those this season," Rose said. "It wasn't what I expected but I'm very glad that it went in."

Then Collin Rose did this. Henry Clay up 1-0 over Bowling Green. pic.twitter.com/TGbKwxU8xa

— Josh Moore (@HLpreps) November 5, 2015

Chris Hunt, a speedster who created havoc from the edges all night, felt good about Rose's winning kick.

"Oh my, man," Hunt said. "As soon as he was winding up that shot I could tell it was going to be a nice one. Collin gets those hits almost every game and most of the time it's through the (football) uprights or wide."

Henry Clay's quickness gave Bowling Green fits early. The Purples settled in for a short stretch but then the speed differential caught back up with them.

Hunt said the Blue Devils' collective speed is an edge that more often than not puts them in a position to succeed.

"Having speed on the other team always puts them on their back heels and allows us to get ahead," Hunt said. "... When we can get into their half with speed, we can beat any team."

Bowling Green Coach Craig Widener thought the game was similar to an August meeting between the two as part of the Lexington Soccer Showcase. That one ended in a 2-2 tie.

"We didn't have to switch a whole lot up, and I don't think they did either," Widener said. "It was two really good teams that represented themselves well, and it was a game worthy of the semifinals."

CovCath blanks Fern Creek

Covington Catholic's 15th shutout of the season was its most vital so far: the Colonels' 5-0 win over Fern Creek on Wednesday night advanced them to the state championship.

Catholic goes to the finals for the first time since 1999. It did so scoring the most goals — 106 after Wednesday — in a single season in team history.

It took about 26 minutes for the Colonels to get a goal off against a feisty Tigers squad playing in the program's first state semifinal. But when they cracked the foundation, down came the walls — Catholic scored three times in the span of five minutes to assume a 3-0 halftime lead.

"We started a little slow coming out of the gates," Colonels Coach Jeremy Robertson said. "... We started capitalizing on some of their mistakes and started getting the ball across the goal. Which opened up opportunities, which opened up the middle, which opened up for our strikers to score some goals."

Covington Catholic 5, Fern Creek 0

KHSAA state tournament, boys' semifinals at Paul Laurence Dunbar

G—CC: Lamb 2 (27', 31'), Wessels (32'), Litzler (51'), Berling (77').

GK—CC: Romes, Hellmueller (77'). FC: Edwards, Tamang (77').

Records: Covington Catholic 23-2-2, Fern Creek 20-5-1.

HENRY CLAY 1, Bowling Green 0

KHSAA state tournament, boys' semifinals at Paul Laurence Dunbar

G—HC: Rose (38').

GK—HC: Gregory. BG: Hughes.

Records: Henry Clay 23-2-1, Bowling Green 19-3-3.

This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 11:28 PM with the headline "Boys' state high school soccer semis: Henry Clay edges defending champ Bowling Green; Covington Catholic cruises."