Greg Billing

Staff Writer

CLAYTON — Standing back in his defensive spot and waiting for the game to occasionally come his way, Carroll High School senior Patrick Raiff felt a twinge of sympathy for Kenton Ridge’s defenders.

Raiff and his fellow defensive standouts — Andrew Eberly, Tim Barbera, Jordan Staley and keeper Noah Kummer — knew exactly what the Cougars were experiencing trying to shut down the Patriots’ potent offense. They go through the same thing every day in practice.

Eight different players scored for Carroll and the defense posted its 11th shutout in 19 games as the Patriots claimed another Division II district championship with the 8-0 win at Northmont High School on Thursday. Carroll (15-0-4) plays Bellbrook in the regional semifinals 7 p.m. Wednesday at Centerville High School.

“I think personally (Vonne Byrd and Trae Collins) are two of the best forwards in the GCL and probably in the state,” Raiff said of his teammates. “Even in practice when Trae has the ball, I don’t see how anyone can stop that. … Defending them for us is as good as it’s going to get for practice.”

Kenton Ridge (16-4), playing in its first district final in school history, held Carroll to a pair of goals in the first half. Zach Zwiesler scored first 10 minutes into the match and David Saintignon added the second with 12:58 before halftime. Carroll had a host of other quality chances and erupted in the second half with four goals in an 8-minute span, starting with Eric Austria’s score with 27:05 to play. Byrd, John Rutan, Trae Collins, Salvatore Sparaco and Nick Donahue finished up the scoring.

With Carroll peppering the KR defense, the Cougars struggled to penetrate the Patriots’ defense. At times in the first half they were content to take shots from 20-25 yards out.

“We didn’t really want to step back and bunker it in,” KR coach Chris Slagle said of not wanting to pack in the defense. “That’s not the way we played all year so why change it? We tried to go straight up with them. … The second half they stepped it up really big because I think they were kind of disappointed with not putting more than two goals in. The play overtook us a little bit. We’re not used to that kind of speed.”