Field hockey, soccer, volleyball quick hits from Columbus-area district, regional finals
Saturday was memorable for numerous central Ohio high school athletes, as regional titles were decided in field hockey and cross county and district championships were won in boys soccer, girls soccer and girls volleyball.
Here are quick hits from field hockey, soccer and volleyball contests. We have a separate story on cross country, and don't forget that the football playoffs started Friday.
Field hockey
New Albany 3, Upper Arlington 1
The top-seeded Eagles thrived on their usual formula — goals from Paige Cornelius and a strong defensive effort — to shut down the fourth-seeded Golden Bears for most of their regional final Saturday at Olentangy Liberty and earn their first state berth. Cornelius scored all three goals for New Albany (19-2), which had been regional runner-up the past four seasons, and now has 72 on the season. Two of her goals Saturday came off penalty corners. “It’s an even matchup every time we play (UA),” Cornelius said. “Postseason is just a different feeling, too. We were so determined to make (Friday) not our last practice and see each other tomorrow. If that was going to happen, we could not let today be our last day.”
Lucy Pentzer took both penalty corners that led to New Albany goals, and the junior midfielder and Cornelius both acknowledged that had been a point of emphasis in practice leading into the regional final. “Repetition, repetition, repetition and execution,” Pentzer said. “We had to capitalize on every opportunity we were presented and it worked out. This means a lot. I’m sure it means more than I can imagine to Paige and all the seniors. This is making program history. It’s amazing.”
New Albany will play Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame (13-3-3) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the first of two state semifinals at Thomas Worthington. The Eagles defeated the Cougars 8-3 on Aug. 26, but coach Marissa Weldon hesitated to put much stock in that result, given potential lineup changes for both teams and the amount of time since that game. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board, figure out what we need to do, put together a plan and take it from there,” Weldon said. “We really have taken it one day at a time in these playoffs. We’ve grown since then, but we’ll study them as well as we can and execute.”
Lauren Wagner scored in the final three minutes for UA (17-3), which for the second year in a row finished with 17 wins but fell one short of making state for the first time since 1990. Goalie Marisa Blauser made four saves, one more than New Albany’s Caroline Spangenburg. “This one game didn’t go our way, but that doesn’t take away from everything they did,” coach Sara Greaves said. “We were a lot more intentional than our possession this time (than during a 2-0 loss to New Albany on Sept. 13) and we moved the ball better across the field. We created opportunities and moved the ball to open space.”
—Dave Purpura
Thomas Worthington 2, Watterson 1
Courtney Stegemiller often has been in the right place at the right time for the Cardinals this season, but rarely has that involved scoring. It did Saturday for the senior midfielder, whose second goal of the season ultimately was the game-winner in the first regional final at Liberty. Stegemiller punched in a rebound past Eagles goalie Ava Bunce with 7:13 left in the third quarter to send third-seeded Thomas (19-2) to its third consecutive state tournament and 18th in program history. “Sophia Borghese worked the ball down the sideline, the ball got across and I managed to get a tip on it past the goalie,” Stegemiller said. “I would say it was all luck. Normally, Lauren Beier would be down on the post, but she had to shade over to the middle. I just got to fill that spot as a midfielder. Normally, I am much farther out.” The game was a rematch of last year’s state final, won by Thomas 3-2 in overtime.
Julie Conroy scored the first goal for Thomas midway through the second quarter, and the Cardinals largely shut down No. 2 Watterson (18-3) until the Eagles pulled within 2-1 on a Gigi Francati goal with 9:18 left. Watterson outshot Thomas 7-5 thanks largely to that late flurry, and Cardinals freshman goalie Mae Conroy made six saves to Bunce’s three. “Watterson is aggressive and hard-nosed and they fight for every single ball,” Thomas coach Terri Simonetti Frost said. “I didn’t want to see them in the regional final. It’s tough. They will not stop until the clock is at triple zero. I’m not even sure we celebrated much, probably because we were so tired.”
The Cardinals will face Shaker Heights in the second state semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday at Thomas. The Red Raiders (14-5-2) defeated Rocky River Magnificat 4-1 in the Northeast regional final Saturday. Thomas defeated Shaker 2-1 on Sept. 22 and 3-1 in a state semifinal a season ago.
All three of Watterson’s losses this season, and its past four dating to last year’s state final, came against Thomas.
—Dave Purpura
District finals
Boys soccer
Top-seeded Olentangy won its first Division I district championship since 2006 on Saturday, getting two goals each from Lucas Brinkman and Luke Hanlon and one from Ty Munroe to rout fifth-seeded Olentangy Berlin 5-1. The Braves (16-1-2) had tied the Bears (13-3-4) at 3 in OCC-Cardinal play Sept. 14. Olentangy will play St. Charles in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Big Walnut.
St. Charles, seeded 13th in the district, upset No. 3 Upper Arlington (13-2-4) 3-2 in double overtime at New Albany on an own goal. Zeke Shalawylo and Ryan Sullivan scored to give the Cardinals (9-7-2) a 2-0 lead, but the Golden Bears pulled even with two second-half goals. UA finished as district runner-up for the fifth consecutive season.
At Westerville Central, Austin Young scored the game’s only goal as eighth-seeded New Albany (15-4-2) upset second-seeded Olentangy Liberty (13-2-6). The Eagles won their fourth consecutive district title and will face Dublin Jerome in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Hilliard Bradley. Fourth-seeded Jerome (12-3-5) beat No. 9 Worthington Kilbourne (13-5-2) 5-2 at Worthington Christian.
In Division II, fourth-seeded Watterson upset No. 1 seed and 2022 state runner-up Bexley 1-0 in double overtime at Westerville Central on an own goal off a throw-in. The Eagles (9-5-4) will face Warsaw River View on Wednesday at Zanesville West Muskingum. Bexley finished 13-4-2.
In the other Division II final at Whitehall, sixth-seeded Jonathan Alder (11-3-3) netted two goals in the final five minutes to beat No. 2 Bloom-Carroll (15-3-3) 3-2. The Pioneers will play Tipp City Tippecanoe on Wednesday at Springfield.
Sammy Owusu Sarfo’s goal from about 35 yards out with 33:36 to go ended up as the only score in a Division III final at Westerville North as top-seeded Worthington Christian (15-2-3) edged Central Buckeye League rival and two-time defending state champion Grandview Heights (11-9). The Warriors, who were ranked second in the final state poll, will play Berlin Hiland in a regional semifinal Wednesday at Heath.
In the other Division III district final, No. 2 seed Tree of Life (19-0-1) shut out sixth-seeded Fairbanks (11-7-3) 2-0 at Westerville South. The Trojans will play Waynesville on Wednesday at Bellbrook.
—Dave Purpura
Girls soccer
Top-seeded Upper Arlington (18-2-1) defeated eighth-seeded Pickerington North (14-6) 4-1 in a Division I district final at New Albany. Tied at 1 late in the first half, Sophie Khelashvili gave the Golden Bears the lead. Addison Szollosi, Kyla Chenelle and Maren Degenhart also scored for UA, and Sally Patton had four saves. UA won its 10th district title and first since 2020. The Bears will play Dublin Jerome on Tuesday in a regional semifinal at Marysville. “The kids know that the seeding at this point doesn’t mean anything,” UA coach Andrew Kessinger said. “We just have to go out and play. Pickerington North was determined and organized. We got a goal at the end of the first half that gave us confidence to move forward.”
Kaelyn Adams’ overtime goal lifted fifth-seeded Jerome (15-1-2) to a 1-0 win over fourth-seeded Olentangy Orange (16-4-1) in a Division I final at Worthington Christian. Jerome goalie Hayden Stoner had six saves. “It was an exciting day,” Celtics coach Georgi Petrov said. “To have the girls win back-to-back district titles, that’s amazing. It was a pretty even game. It was a big battle.”
Third-seeded Olentangy Liberty (16-2-1) earned a 1-0 win (4-1 shootout) over seventh-seeded Olentangy (16-5) in a Division I final at Big Walnut. Hailey Myers earned the win in goal for the Patriots, who will play Olentangy Berlin in a regional semifinal Tuesday at DeSales. “I’m proud of the girls and their resilience to fend off a tough (school) district rival in Olentangy,” Liberty coach Chris Allen said. “They didn’t make it easy for us on a stage where it’s anybody’s game.” Sixth-seeded Berlin (15-3-1) beat second-seeded Dublin Coffman (15-3-1) 2-1 in overtime at UA.
In Division III, second-seeded Grandview Heights (15-3-2) beat top-seeded Worthington Christian (16-2-3) 2-1 at Westerville North for its second consecutive district title. Trailing 1-0, twins Ellie and Natalie Smith scored first-half goals for the Bobcats. Vivian Chute had 13 saves for Grandview. The Bobcats will play Cincinnati Country Day in a regional semifinal Tuesday at Beavercreek. “Every season has its unique challenges and every time you get to a district final it’s special, and to win especially against a talented team like Worthington Christian, it feels good,” Grandview coach Brianna Dominach said. “It was definitely a group effort.”
In Division II, third-seeded Bloom-Carroll (18-2-1) beat top-seeded Granville (12-3-4) 2-1 at Whitehall. The Bulldogs will play Waynesville on Tuesday in a regional semifinal at Centerville.
—Frank DiRenna
Girls volleyball
Top-seeded Dublin Scioto (26-0) captured its first Division I district title since 2021 and fourth overall with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-14 win over 11th-seeded Olentangy Liberty (13-12) at Central Crossing. Scioto coach Jackie Wilson said middle hitters Alec Rothe and Amariah White and outside hitter Riley Winbush led the win. The Irish will play Watterson in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Hilliard Darby. “The (2021) district title hit a little different because it felt like we were close for a couple of years and then finally got over that hump,” Wilson said. “Not that this one isn’t as special — it still very much is — but our expectations are so high and beyond district that it feels like it’s a step in our journey versus the end goal.” Watterson (17-9) beat fifth-seeded Pickerington North (20-6) 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 at Granville. Watterson defeated Scioto in a district final last season.
Second-seeded Olentangy Orange (23-3) won its seventh Division I district title in eight years, beating ninth-seeded Worthington Kilbourne (19-7) 25-7, 25-17, 25-11 at Granville. Setter Izzy Scholvin finished with 37 assists to help lead the Pioneers. Lily Barron had 16 kills, and Maddie Cugino and Skylar Kelso each added nine. Emma Cugino had 21 digs and Maddie Cugino collected 14. Orange will play Pickerington Central in a regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Darby. “All season this team has stepped up to any challenge they faced,” Orange coach Katie Duy said. “This senior class has shown a lot of maturity, and every player has bought in and worked hard. They set the tone early in August and have continued to bring their best every day. We have everyone doing their job and contributing.”
Third-seeded Central (22-3) won its first district title since 1994 — and its first since Pickerington split into two high schools in 2003 — defeating 10th-seeded Olentangy (16-9) 25-20, 25-18, 25-13 at Central Crossing. Myriah Massey led Central with 22 kills, 14 digs and one ace. Makenna Grimes had 10 kills, six digs and two aces, Lachele Nicholas had six blocks and Korina Barber added four blocks. “I am just so proud and honored to coach this group of young women,” Central coach Jeannie Krueger said. “They are amazing human beings.”
In Division IV, third-seeded Shekinah Christian (22-3) won its sixth district title with a 25-23, 25-22, 25-13 win over top-seeded Delaware Christian (23-3) at Central Crossing. The teams split two regular-season matches to tie for the MOCAL title at 11-1. Hailey Campagna led Shekinah Christian with 29 kills and Nava Showalter added 10. The Flames will play Waterford in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Pickerington North. “Aside from some missed serves, we played well,” Shekinah Christian coach Colleen Showalter said. “Our girls played clean and scrappy. They were determined to play this game as a team and pick each other up throughout the match, and they did just that.”
In a Division II final at Westerville Central, third-seeded Hartley (20-6) upset top-seeded Bloom-Carroll (24-2) 28-26, 26-24, 20-25, 16-25, 15-6. The Hawks will play Dover in a regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Heath. Also in Division II, second-seeded Highland (23-3) defeated fourth-seeded Buckeye Valley (24-3) 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 at Central. The Fighting Scots will play Hamilton Badin in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Vandalia Butler.
In a Division III final at Mount Vernon Nazarene, sixth-seeded Marion Pleasant (19-8) beat fifth-seeded Fredericktown (20-6) 21-25, 25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 15-13. The Spartans will play St. Henry in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Liberty-Benton. Also in Division III, second-seeded Newark Catholic (22-4) beat top-seeded Fairbanks (23-2) 18-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-11 at Mount Vernon Nazarene. The Green Wave will play Cincinnati McNicholas in a regional semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday at Kettering Fairmont.
—Frank DiRenna
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Quick hits from OHSAA district, regional finals in central Ohio
