Girls Division I
Seton Knocks off Strongsville to Win First State Title
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In its first trip to the state tournament, unranked Cincinnati Seton knocked off sixth-ranked Strongsville, 1-0, in the OHSAA girls soccer Division I title game Friday at Lower.com Field.
Seton’s championships completes a nail-biting postseason, having won its last six tournament games by one goal each.
With both teams fielding stout defenses, a low-scoring and even game was expected, and it lived up to that. After a scoreless first half, Seton senior Shannon Ott scored in the 69th minute off a cross from junior McKenzie Carle.
Seton junior goalkeeper Riley Tarvin had seven saves in the shutout effort. Strongsville junior goalie Abby Kudla also had seven saves.
Seton (19-3-1) led narrowly on the stat sheet in shots, 17-16. Both teams had two corner kicks.
Strongsville (16-3-3) was making its 14th appearance in the state tournament and 10th appearance in the state championship game. The Lady Mustangs now have five state titles (last in 2020) and five state runners-up.
Girls Division III
Country Day Holds Off Ottawa-Glandorf to Win Third State Title
COLUMBUS, Ohio – In its sixth trip to the state tournament, first-ranked Cincinnati Country Day holds off fourth-ranked Ottawa-Glandorf, 1-0, in the OHSAA girls soccer Division III title game Friday at Lower.com Field.
Ottawa-Glandorf (20-2-2) finishes its season by allowing only 10 goals all year, with its previous 16 games ending in shutouts. Similarly, Country Day (19-5-0) has not allowed a goal in its last eight games.
After a scoreless first half, Country Day junior Elizabeth Zimmerman scored unassisted in the 71st minute with a shot over the goalkeeper’s head.
Country Day senior goalkeeper CJ Debra had six saves to get the shutout. Ottawa-Glandorf senior goalkeeper also had six saves. The Nighthawks had 11 shots in the second half, with a total of 19 for the game, compared to the Lady Titans 11 total shots for the game. Ottawa-Glandorf had 5 corner kicks while Country Day had 3.
Ottawa-Glandorf making its third appearance in the state tournament, all leading to appearances in the state championship game. The Lady Titans now have three state runners-up and have yet to see its first state title.
Girls Division II
Copley Finishes Undefeated Season with State Title
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Top-ranked Copley wrapped up an undefeated season at 22-0-1 with a 1-0 win over No. 2 Waynesville Friday in the OHSAA Division II girls soccer state championship game at Lower.com Field.
Senior Emma Stransky scored the game’s only goal in the 24th minute when she chipped a shot into the upper-right corner after freshman Kate Young got the ball into the middle of the field.
Copley was playing in the girls soccer state championship game for the first time.
Waynesville (21-1-0) won the Division III state championship in 2021 and moved up to Division II this season. The Spartans were making their third trip to the state tournament and second appearance in the state title game.
Copley junior goalkeeper Kami Ayoup had eight saves in the shutout win.
Waynesville led in total shots, 19-13, and in corner kicks, 4-2. Senior goalkeeper Gracyn Armstrong had three saves for the Spartans.
Boys Division I
Cleveland St. Ignatius Win Fourth Straight Division I State Title; Defeat New Albany 2-0
Columbus, OH – In their 18th appearance in the state tournament and 13th time in the state final, Cleveland St. Ignatius secured a record 12th soccer state title by defeating New Albany 2-0 in the 2022 OHSAA Division I boys soccer state title game Saturday at Lower.com Field.
The Wildcats are the first school in OHSAA boys soccer history to win four consecutive state championships.
St. Ignatius controlled the game from start to finish, as they yielded almost 60% possession and tallied 26 shots compared to the Eagles’ 7.
However, it took until the second half for the Wildcats to break through due to multiple saves from Eagles senior goalkeeper Kyle Lapper, who ended the match with 7 saves.
With 56:27 gone on the clock, senior defender Owen Maruca headed in a corner for the Wildcats after the pin balled around the box. 20 minutes later, the other Owen on the team, senior defender Owen Sullivan, scored off the left post off a cross from senior forward Zsombor Onodi.
St. Ignatius senior goalkeeper Patrick McLaughlin pitched a shutout, tallying two saves in the process.
This was New Albany’s third time in the state tournament and the first time receiving the runner-up award.
Boys Division II
Lima Shawnee Prevails in Penalty Kicks to Win First State Title in School History
Columbus, OH - In its third appearance to the state tournament, fifth-ranked Lima Shawnee defeated unranked Bexley, 3-1 in penalty kicks after a scoreless 110 minutes, in the OHSAA boys soccer Division II title game Saturday at Lower.com Field.
Both teams scored multiple goals in every postseason game this season, but neither were able to score in regulation or overtime.
As the score line would suggest, the teams were very evenly matched. Both teams had 18 shots and four corners. Shawnee (19-1-1) had the better of the attempts, forcing six saves from Bexley’s junior goalkeeper Drew Martin. Indian’s senior goalkeeper Jack Tenwalde had two saves in regulation and then made back-to-back saves in the penalty shootout.
The best chance of the game came to Bexley senior midfielder James McCann who hit the post from a shot 25 yards out.
In overtime, neither team was able to muster a shot on target, sending the game into penalty kicks.
In penalty kicks, both teams missed their first attempt before Shawnee made three penalty kicks in a row, which included the winning penalty scored by senior forward Sam Tenwalde.
Bexley (18-3-2) made their eighth state tournament appearance, this being their first runner-up honor to go along with their two state titles.
Boys Division III
Grandview Heights Bobcats defend Boys Division III Title
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Grandview Heights jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead in defending their OHSAA Division III boys soccer state championship with a 3-0 win over Toledo Ottawa Hills 3-0 on Saturday, November 12 at Lower.com Field.
The Bobcats (15-7-1) outshot their opponent the Green Bears (18-5-1) 12-7 in exacting revenge for a 2-1 loss to Ottawa Hills in their final regular season contest.
While the Bobcats had taken a total of 12 shots throughout the game, the Green Bears had only taken 7. Grandview Heights had 4 corner kicks compared to the 2 corner kicks that Ottawa Hills had.
Junior Julian Jaume of Ottawa Hills recorded 5 saves throughout the game.
Grandview Heights senior Danny Claypool, who recorded a hat trick in last season’s title game, got the Bobcats on the board with just 4:15 off the clock when he flicked a header off the right post and into the net off a cross from senior Leo Marcellana.
Claypool pushed the lead to 2-0 when he hauled in a long pass, beat the Ottawa Hills defender, and slid the ball into the right corner of the net from the left side with 29:03 gone from the game clock.
Ottawa Hills had some opportunities in the second half to draw close, but Bobcat keeper junior Beck Bockbrader turned away the shots in recording the clean sheet in the win. Bockbrader had 2 saves, while the Green Bears had taken a total of 7 shots.
Junior Jayden Brown got an extra insurance goal at the 47-minute mark when he rifled a shot into the top right corner off another Marcellana assist.
The title was Grandview Heights second state title (2021) in their three appearances in the title game. Ottawa Hills secured their second ever state runners-up honors.