Tigers V Tigers - now that'd be a maul worth catching!

Congratulations to junior Andrew Estopinal from Jeffersonville, who was part of the rampant St Xavier team which won the Kentucky's High School State championship Saturday.

The Tigers (25-0-2), mauled Clark County 5-1, rushing into a 3-0 lead after just 13 minutes of action at Toyota Stadium in Georgetown.

Kyle Schickel, Evan Karst and Kyle Richard put Kentucky's finest into an unassailable lead, while Kevin Bick and Ryan Smith capped the scoring in the 66th and 69th minutes.

St Xavier, ranked No. 1 in the state all season, won its eighth title overall and fourth in eight years. It finished with a 21-match winning streak and became the third state champion in 10 seasons to go undefeated, joining Trinity (1998) and Ballard (1999).

Coach Andy Schulten has gone on record as saying this St. X team - which finished with a state-record 145 goals - could go down as the state's best ever.
Right now, The Tigers are 21 and rising in the NSCAA/adidas national rankings (www.nscaa.com/hsr.php).

Meanwhile, Indiana’s state champions Evansville Memorial - also nicknamed the Tigers - ended the season unbeaten with a record of 23-0-2 and is ranked No. 1 in the US.

Evansville won its 11th Indiana state title since 1979 - and first IHSAA tournament - by beating Chesterton with an Andrew Fuchs strike.

Just a thought, but with only 123 miles and two hours' drive separating two of the best high school teams in the United States, wouldn't it be a great spectacle to see a match-up between the pair?

Curtain comes down at Evansville

The curtain comes down on another soccer season for a number of the area's teams at the sixth annual Veterans' Invitational Tournament in Evansville over the next two weekends.

Six sides from Net-Surfers and Southern Indiana United will travel to the Evansville Elite hosted competition, which will see over 250 teams (U9-U19) from 10 states. The tournament has also attracted Louisville's top teams - some of which feature local players - including Javanon, Mockingbird, the Thouroghbreds and United.

First up this weekend are the girls and Net-Surfers will be represented by four teams at the U11, U12 and U13 levels.

The U11s are in the Classic 2 section and have a busy schedule, with two games on Saturday against Lady Ambush and Lady Invasion, following by another brace against the SWISA Tigers and Lady Blitz on Sunday.

Net-Surfers has two U12 teams taking part - Purple and White Waves - in the Classic and Classic 2 sections. Purple faces off against JB Marine/Foerster, FCE Lady Lion, Lady Strikers and Owensboro, while the White Waves will be hoping to wash away SWISA Flames, Louisville's Thoroughbreds, Evansville Elite and Lady Ambush.

The club's fourth team participating this weekend is the U13s and it will have two games on Saturday against JB Marine/Foerster and FCE Cobras, with a third game against Metro Strikers on Sunday.

The boys' tournament will be held on November 17/18 and SIU's U11 Terriers will be one of four teams from the club hoping to add a bit of bite to proceedings.

Coached by Paul Duckworth and David Stinson, the boys went undefeated at the recent 'Nightmare at the Rock' tournament in Indianapolis with three shutouts, missing out on a place in the final by a goal difference of one and tying 0-0 with eventual winners Center Grove.

The team is 5-1-1 in tournament play so far this season and has outscored its opponents 17-2 in tournament play. It will be hoping to add to its win column with games against Jasper Firestrikers and Evansville Elite.

The second team traveling from SIU are the U9 Thunder, which has already tasted success this year when winning the Bluegrass Invitational tournament in Lexington in August.

It plays against Evansville Elite and SWISA Academy on November 17, before a double dose of Thoroughbreds (B and Green) the following day.

Karate Kid Brazil-style

After Brazil was officially awarded the 2014 World Cup last Tuesday, sparking joyous celebrations from Rio to Sao Paulo, you would imagine its club teams would be on their best behavior - especially after doubts were raised about its suitability as hosts. Not a bit of it.

The following day, a series of confrontations marred the game between Atletico Paranaense and Gremio in the Brazilian championship, with Atletico winning 2-0. After one of the Gremio's players, midfielder Tcheco, was sent off, he left the field and clashed with Atletico director Mario Cesar Petraglia. A shoving match followed.

Then, a Gremio player aimed a karate kick at Atletico midfielder Claiton while he was being interviewed for TV. A fight broke out and order was eventually restored (www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee30znrpwds).

But that wasn't the end of it. On Thursday, hostilities resumed when Petraglia was attacked at the airport by a member of the Gremio delegation while waiting to fly back to Sao Paulo.

"I was reading my newspaper when they went for me, with physical and moral offences," claimed Petraglia on the club's website.
Roll on 2014!