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OHSAA boys soccer tournament: Your guide to every Greater Akron district

Brad Bournival, Akron Beacon Journal
·5 min read
Revere is one of many Greater Akron area teams dreaming of boys soccer glory as the postseason starts.
Revere is one of many Greater Akron area teams dreaming of boys soccer glory as the postseason starts.

It’s that time of year again.

Boys soccer takes center stage this week as the postseason gets underway.

With that in mind, here’s a look at all nine districts Greater Akron area teams are in.

The USA Today Network gives you who we think we’ll win, who will contend and a must-watch player from each district.

Take a look:

Carter Madden and Walsh Jesuit head into the postseason as a No. 1 seed.
Carter Madden and Walsh Jesuit head into the postseason as a No. 1 seed.

Division I, Northeast 1 sectional/district

Winner to Valley Forge Regional

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 1. Walsh Jesuit; 25. Cuyahoga Falls; 34. Garfield

Team to beat: Walsh. The top-seeded Warriors wouldn’t play a top-10 seed until the district final with No. 15 GlenOak as the only top-15 team in their half of the bracket.

Watch out for: Jackson. The sixth-seeded Polar Bears went to the bottom half of the bracket. They only lost to Medina by a goal and beat Hudson.

Must-watch player: The Warriors have a three-headed attack with Charlie Robinson (10 goals, 4 assists) and Brady Catanzarite (10, 13), but the offense goes through Carter Madden (15, 8).

Cam VanNatta has Hoover clicking heading into the postseason.
Cam VanNatta has Hoover clicking heading into the postseason.

Division I, Northeast 2 sectional/district

Winner to Valley Forge Regional

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 8. Stow; 17. North; 35. Ellet

Team to beat: No. 3 Hoover. Medina and Walsh are the only teams to figure out the Vikings. The Federal League champs claim wins over University School and Jackson.

Watch out for: No. 4 University School. Should the Preppers get through Stow, an Aug. 19 rematch with the Vikings seems to be in play. Hoover won that one, 2-1.

Must-watch player: Cam VanNatta is a returning second-team All-Ohioan for Hoover. He can score and facilitate those around him.

Division I, Northeast 3 sectional/district

Winner to Twinsburg Regional

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 3. Hudson; 5. Twinsburg; 7. Hoban; 24. Green; 27. Nordonia

Team to beat: Oof. What a bracket! It’s hard to ignore Hudson, which beat Twinsburg and lost by just one to Revere.

Watch out for: Twinsburg. The Tigers stayed away from the top of the bracket, which includes Hudson and Hoban. That said, they have No. 10 Perry, No. 11 Mentor and No. 14 Riverside in their half.

Must-watch player: Sam Robledo. The Hudson junior was the No. 2 scorer last season and has taken over as the primary force with 18 goals and 10 assists in 2023.

Wadsworth will try to take down Goliath (Medina) in a district loaded with stars.
Wadsworth will try to take down Goliath (Medina) in a district loaded with stars.

Division I, Northeast 4 sectional/district

Winner to Twinsburg Regional

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 1. Medina; 9. Wadsworth; 13. Highland; 25. Barberton; 33. Firestone

Team to beat: Medina. When MaxPreps has you as the No. 5 team in the nation, teams tend to stay away from your bracket, and only No. 8 Wooster and Wadsworth ventured into the 12-team district.

Watch out for: No. 14 Strongsville. The Mustangs count one-goal losses to Medina, Cleveland Heights, University School, Avon and Wooster and have never lost by more than two goals. They tied Hoover and Brunswick.

Must-watch player: Cole Turchyn. The All-Ohioan for Medina has seven goals and eight assists and is the catalyst for the Greater Cleveland Conference champions.

Division I, Northeast 6 sectional/district

Winner to Brunswick Regional

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 5. Brunswick; 11. Copley

Team to beat: No. 3 North Ridgeville. The Rangers finished the season undefeated and gave up just six goals all season.

Watch out for: Brunswick. The Blue Devils likely face North Ridgeville in a sectional final and have ties against No. 4 Shaker Heights and Medina. The Rangers do own a 2-1 win on Aug. 19 against Brunswick, but the Blue Devils were injury riddled that game.

Must-watch player: Matthew Luecke has been a standout for Copley with 19 goals and four assists.

Division II, Northeast 3 sectional/district

Winner to Twinsburg regional

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 13. Norton; 19. Tallmadge; 32. Woodridge

Team to beat: No. 2 Lake Catholic. The Cougars are also ranked second in the Division II state coaches poll with a lone 1-0 loss to Walsh Jesuit.

Watch out for: No. 6 Orrville provided it gets past No. 7 Buckeye in a district semifinal. The Red Riders' only loss came 1-0 to Louisville. They also tied 2022 district finalist Berlin Hiland, 1-1.

Must-watch player: Marko Odorcic. The returning All-Ohioan defensive midfielder is key to Lake Catholic having six shutouts and only giving up one goal in seven others.

Division II, Northeast 4 sectional/district

Winner to Streetsboro Regional

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 3. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; 8. St. Vincent-St. Mary

Team to beat: CVCA. The Royals have allowed just nine goals this season and are ranked fifth in the Division II state coaches poll.

Watch out for: No. 5 Bay. Whenever the Rockets are in a bracket, they need to be paid attention to. Only No. 10 Norwayne ventured into their half, and the teams could meet in a district semifinal.

Must-watch player: Milo Hignett. With 11 goals and 10 assists this year, the Bay senior has been a tough matchup for opponents.

Division II, Northeast 5 sectional/district

Winner to Perkins Regional

Revere is ready to defend its district title when postseason play begins Monday.
Revere is ready to defend its district title when postseason play begins Monday.

Greater Akron teams in bracket: 1. Revere; 23. Coventry; 26. Springfield

Team to beat: Revere. The returning regional finalists ran off 13 straight wins before ties with Bexley and Kent Roosevelt and finished the season with a win over Hoover.

Watch out for: No. 4 Rocky River. The Pirates chose the bracket away from Revere and should have No. 11 Field or No. 12 Hawken in a district semifinal.

Must-watch player: It’s Dylan Halm for days. The Revere forward has scored 22 goals and added six assists for the Minutemen, who are ranked No. 1 in the Division II state coaches poll.

Division III, Northeast 5 sectional/district

Winner to Clyde regional

Greater Akron team in bracket: No. 10 Manchester

Team to beat: No. 4 Lake Ridge Academy. It's not often we give the lower seed as the team to beat, but the Royals are coming off a 5-0 win Thursday over No. 1 Elyria Open Door.

Watch out for: Open Door, but that comes with an asterisk. The top-seeded Patriots have to get past No. 8 Smithville or Manchester in a district semifinal. Open Door comes into the tournament with back-to-back losses to Andrews Osborne Academy and Lake Ridge Academy by a combined 11-0.

Must-watch player: Luka Sergent-Mani. The junior has 16 goals and three assists for the Royals.

Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio high school boys soccer: Greater Akron OHSAA district preview