New Albany, Thomas Worthington to meet for OHSAA field hockey state championship
In so many words, and gestures, Thomas Worthington field hockey coach Terri Simonetti Frost acted out what she considered the key to defeating Shaker Heights 3-0 in a state semifinal Thursday night.
The essence was sliding midfielders into the right place to clamp down on short passes, which in turn would prevent the Red Raiders from flipping the field with longer passes.
“We cut those (extra) 20 yards off and we didn’t let them generate that offense,” Simonetti Frost said. “We executed very well. Tonight, they were spot on with our scouting and what we wanted them to do. We just tweaked things and it helped us defensively and helped shut down their offense.”
The effort worked, as the Cardinals outshot visiting Shaker Heights 5-1 in the first half and rarely were threatened. Thomas (20-2) will try to win a second consecutive championship and the program’s eighth at 1 p.m. Saturday at home against New Albany.
New Albany (20-2) got two goals from Harvard commit Paige Cornelius to defeat Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame 3-0 in the first semifinal.
Sophomore forward Sophia Borghese scored twice for Thomas, coincidentally with 1:48 remaining in both the first and second quarters, and junior forward Rowan Casey added insurance with 10:27 to go.
“Our defense gave us a lot of great passes for breakaways … and they made sure the ball never got behind them,” Borghese said. “They did an amazing job.”
A unit paced by juniors Molly McClellan and Caroline Sprung and sophomore Jaidyn Gussler held Shaker Heights (14-6-2) without a shot in the first quarter, one in the second and just three in the second half to record Thomas’ 14th shutout win. The Cardinals defeated the Red Raiders in a semifinal for the third consecutive year.
“If you start at the beginning and cut off their offense, they don’t have a chance,” Gussler said.
Saturday’s final will be the third in a row between central Ohio teams.
New Albany defeated Thomas 2-0 on Sept. 18, one of 16 shutouts for the Eagles. Both teams have allowed 10 goals all year.
“They’re well-coached, tough and aggressive, and Paige is a handful,” Simonetti Frost said. “I feel really good about how we’re playing right now as a team. It could go either way. I hope it goes our way.”
Stout defense carries New Albany
The Eagles didn’t need the offensive fireworks that marked their 8-3 regular-season win over Mount Notre Dame, holding the Cougars without a shot in the first half and to just one for the game.
Competing in its first state tournament, New Albany played virtually the entire first half in its offensive end, with Mount Notre Dame (13-4-3) only controlling the pace for portions of the third quarter. Eagles goalie Caroline Spangenberg, a freshman, did not make a save, and New Albany outshot MND 7-1 to hand the Cougars their 10th consecutive state tournament loss dating to 2004.
“They came out hard and physical … and we had to settle in, find possession and find some space inside the circle to score,” coach Marissa Weldon said. “Our midfield did great, especially transitioning from defense to offense as quickly as possible. It was about making sure to keep the ball down (in the offensive end) and moving forward with any opportunities we could find. They were clumping around the ball quite a bit, so it was hard to get around that at times.”
Sophomore forward Sophia Mariotti opened the scoring off a penalty corner with 3 minutes left in the first quarter. Cornelius added her goals in the third, the last coming midway through the period moments after she returned to the field following a yellow card.
“Once we settled in and got the first goal, it gave us the trust in each other to just play our game instead of playing panicked,” Mariotti said. “We’ve worked a lot on good ball placement in practice and we practice tipping. You never know what could happen. Every touch counts.”
A New Albany midfield led by seniors Olivia Boyles and Ellie McClelland and juniors Ema Gravlin and Lucy Pentzer barely allowed the ball to reach the defense.
“We talked about stopping them on the sideline and not letting the ball past midfield so it didn’t even come close to our (defensive) end,” Boyles said. “This is one of our best wins. It’s coming down to the wire.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New Albany, Thomas Worthington to play for field hockey state title
