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Soccer
is relatively new to the state tournament format in
Ohio. The boys have been playing for a state
championship for just 30 years, while the girls have
only been battling for state honors since 1985.
However, in spite of its relatively short life, the boys
soccer tournament has proven to be one of the most
exciting and hotly contested of any sport in the state.
Unlike some of the other sports, where one or two
schools may have dominated for many years, such his not
the case with boys soccer. Only six schools have won as
many as three titles, none has won more than four.
Still, the cream always rises to the top, and Ohio boys
soccer certainly has had its share of the cream.
The
boys soccer tournament has gone through an evolution of
four stages. From that first tournament in 1976,
through the 1980 season, all schools played for just one
championship. From 1981 through 1988, the schools were
divided into Class AAA-AA-A, with the Class AAA schools
playing for one championship, and the A-AA schools
playing for a combined title. From 1989 to 1999 all
schools were divided into two Divisions, I and II, with
each playing for its own championship. Since 2001, a
Division III has been added, with those schools also
playing for a state title.
When
the terms �St. Ignatius High School� and �athletics� are
mentioned, most people immediately think of football and
the Wildcats� unprecedented success in that sport.
However, St. Ignatius is hardly a one-sport school.
Recently, Sports Illustrated magazine placed the
Wildcats among the Top 25 schools in the country for
overall excellence in athletics during the past 10
years, and as the best in the Buckeye State. It was
probably soccer that put the Cats over the top, but
there were some, especially head soccer coach Mike
McLaughlin, who thought that a state championship in
soccer would forever elude the Wildcats.
For more than ten years now the Wildcats
have produced some of the best soccer teams in the state
and have been annually knocking on the door for a
Division I state soccer title, but somehow it has always
managed to slip away. Things were getting so bad that
coach McLaughlin had been tagged with the title of �the
world�s unluckiest Irishman.� A perfect example was the
Division I semi-final game in 1995, when the Wildcats
out shot Findlay High School by an incredible 37-2, but
watched as both Findlay shots found the back of the net,
while only one of the Wildcats� found its mark. Or in
the 2000 semi-final game against the Eagles of North
Olmsted High School, when the Wildcats� top scorer and
Ohio �Player of the Year,� David Maier, missed a shot on
a wide-open goal as the Cats fell 1-0, after defeating
the Eagles 5-0 earlier in the season. At other times
injuries to key players derailed the Wildcats.
Finally, however, St. Ignatius put it all
together in 2004. Led by Ohio �Player of the Year� and
All-American, Gavin Blades, the Wildcats defeated
Westerville North, a team that had lost only once in 22
previous outings, 1-0 in the championship game, on a
goal scored with just under ten minutes left in the
game. But the Cats were not finished, and the 2004
season proved to be only a warm up for what Ohio soccer
fans saw in 2005. In 2005 the senior-laden Wildcats had
one of the most incredible soccer seasons in Ohio high
school history. Pushing their win streak to 30 in a
row, they finished with a record of 23-0-0, the first
undefeated, untied soccer season in school history. In
winning their second consecutive state title the
Wildcats became only the second Division I school
(Brecksville, 1992-1993) to do so.
Not
only did they take state honors, but the Wildcats, led
by three All-Americans (Mark Blades, Justin Morrow,
Barry Rice) and �National Coach of the Year� Mike
McLauglin, were also named the Number 1 team in the
country. Only one other boys team in Ohio has ever won
a national championship in soccer, that being the Hudson
Explores in 2002.
When
St. Ignatius suffered that upset loss to North Olmsted
in the 2000 state semi-final game, it really should not
have come as much of a surprise to those who follow Ohio
high school soccer. While several schools have had good
runs of success covering several years, perhaps no
school has been as consistently successful in boys
soccer as the Eagles of North Olmsted High School.
Since
the state tournament began in 1976, and continuing up
through that 2000 season, the Eagles have annually been
at the top of Ohio boys soccer. Under the direction of
Hall of Fame coach Tom Hatfield, the Eagles made it as
far as the semi-finals in the first state tournament.
Using that experience as a steppingstone, coach
Hatfield�s Eagles came right back the next year. Led by
all-state forward Kevin Terry�s 47 goals, the Eagles
went 19-1-1 in winning the 1977 state title - in only
the school�s sixth year of the sport.
The
Eagles then suffered through a couple of �off� years,
but were back in the state tournament from 1980-1982,
reaching the semi-finals each time. Finally, in 1984
and 1985 North Olmsted again advanced to the Class AAA
state finals. They lost to Centerville, 2-1, in
overtime in 1984, suffering their only loss in 24
outings (20-1-3). In 1985 it was again Centerville vs.
North Olmsted in the Class AAA finals, both teams
entering the game with perfect 24-0-0 records. Led by
All-American defender Joe Palmisono, the Eagles built up
a 3-0 lead early in the second half on their way to a
convincing 3-1 victory, the first team to ever repeat as
Class AAA state soccer champion. The Eagles� 25
victories that season are still the most by any school
in the state, boys or girls (tied by Clayton Northmont�s
boys team in 1988).
Coach Hatfield again had the Eagles in
the final four each year from 1987-1990, advancing to
the championship game in both 1988 and 1989, but it
would not be until 1996 when North Olmsted would again
win a state championship. Now coached by Chris Marsh,
the Eagles (18-1-4) were making their first final four
appearance in six years. In the Division I championship
game they again faced the Centerville Elks, who entered
the game undefeated at 20-0-1, top ranked in Ohio and #2
in the country. The score was tied 1-1 when the Eagles�
Tracy Dowe sent the game winning shot, a 35-yard effort,
into the Elks� net with just 2:48 left on the game
clock.
Coach Marsh had the Eagles back in the
Division I title game in both 1999 and 2000. In 1999,
the game against Westerville North went through two
overtimes and into a shootout. The Eagles won the
shootout 4-3, and thus the game, 2-1, to capture their
record setting fourth Division I state championship. In
2000 the Eagles lost in the finals to Worthington
Kilbourne.
In the 25 years from 1976-2000, the North
Olmsted Eagles have qualified for the state tournament
14 times, advanced to the finals eight times and have
won four state championships. No other school, boys or
girls, can equal that record of success.
Kettering�s Archbishop Alter High School is
the only other school to win four boys soccer
championships, but their success is of a more recent
vintage. Advancing to the final four for the first time
in 1987, Alter defeated Walsh Jesuit, 2-1, to win the
Class AAA crown. The next year, playing in class AA,
the Knights defeated Columbus St. Charles, 2-1, in a
shootout to take another state title. In doing so, the
Knights became the first school to win back-to-back
state soccer championships, albeit in different
Classes.
Alter would not make it back to the final
four, now Division II, again until 1993, but then the
Knights would become almost a fixture in the
championship game over the next six seasons. They
would play for the state title in 1993-1994-1996-1998,
winning the top prize in both 1996 and 1998, beating out
North Olmsted by two years in becoming the state�s first
four-time boys soccer champion.
While
the honoring of high school soccer teams and players at
the national level is still of relatively recent
vintage, Ohio has come in for its share of the glory.
It has already been mentioned that first Hudson (2002),
and then St. Ignatius (2005), have won national
championships. There are also a couple of Ohio soccer
players who have shown themselves to be outstanding
enough to earn some well deserved personal recognition.
Forward Xavier Balc earned Ohio �Player of the Year� and
All-America honors in 2002 in leading Hudson�s Explorers
to their first state and national championships. In
2003 Balc repeated as Player of the Year and
All-American, this time leading his team to a final four
berth.
Over at
Youngstown�s Cardinal Mooney High School, another young
man has just finished a great high school soccer
career. Ken �Kiki� Willis helped the Cardinals earn a
Division II state championship in 2002, and a runner-up
trophy in 2004. In doing so, Willis earned himself
All-American recognition three consecutive years,
2002-2003-2004, as well as Division II �Player of the
Year� honors in 2004. During his four-year soccer
career Willis scored 172 goals, an all-time record in
Ohio and good for sixth place in the national record
book.
Two
other boys deserve mention for their accomplishments.
James Walchanowicz, who played for Garfield Heights High
School from 1981-83, has the second highest total in the
nation for career saves with 1,072, and his single
season mark of 403 is fourth nationally. Kolby LaCrone,
who played for Dresden Tri-Valley from 2001-2004, had
109 career assists, good for fourth all-time in the
country. |
