'Super pumped' Revere High School boys soccer returns to OHSAA state finals after hiatus
TWINSBURG – When you can find comfort in the chaos, the little things – and even the big things – don’t matter.
The Revere boys soccer team came into 2023 with a lot going against it.
At 1 p.m. Saturday those same Minutemen will be playing in the Division II state championship against Tippecanoe.
Revere dispatched Lake Catholic 2-0. The Red Devils beat Columbus Bishop Watterson 2-1 in double overtime in the other semifinal.
“Last year, we were disappointed,” holding midfielder Zach Iler said. “We thought we couldn’t come back. We thought we might not have a good year this year, but we’ve had tons of kids step up. Joab (Bockstoce) was playing midfield last year on JV. The same with Jacob Thomas. Everyone just really stepped up. I’m surprised we’re here, but super pumped.”
Revere (20-0-2) returned just Iler, Jeff Boyle and AJ Catlett as starters and had 19 junior varsity players at the start. The Minutemen also had Dylan Halm and a lot of hope.
It’s that craziness that bonded the team and pushed it into the state final.
The usual characters stepped up against Lake Catholic (19-2) as Boyle opened the scoring five minutes in when he collected his own rebound and put it into an empty net. Catlett found Halm once again 8:17 into the second half.
“They all have the expectation the final day of the year,” Revere coach Nick DePompei said. “It starts in eighth grade, honestly. They just have that expectation that they’ll rise to the occasion. It’s been a much smoother transition that you could have ever imagined, but they’re ready. And the youngsters on the bench are ready to do it next year.”
The goal never wavered for Revere boys soccer even when the focus did
The expectation sits on a dry erase board in the locker room. At first, it had the date of the state final, but that changed a month ago to the date of the next game.
It’s as cliche as it comes, but that mentality made the chaos that much easier to digest.
Revere knew all about Lake Catholic's Harley Forkins (28 goals, 16 assists), Alex Miljanovic (22, 15) and Marko Odorcic (17, 13), which is why it parked Halm up top and made sure every Cougar was accounted for defensively.
Because of that, Lake Catholic didn’t get a shot on frame until 17:39 remained. Every time someone got past a Minuteman defender, another was right behind him to stop the threat.
“We had some big games this year, so I never doubted this,” said Boyle, who plays everywhere for Revere. “That has helped us. We like to counter, so we don’t mind defending to get a better chance rather than a lot of good chances.”
Revere boys soccer ready on every level heading into OHSAA state final
That buildup through the season has the Minutemen unbeaten heading into its final with Tippecanoe, which has been in the finals three of the last five seasons.
Revere is a team in every sense of the word and one that has learned to play as a fist instead of individual fingers.
There’s also a solid midfield and fantastic defense in front of Jake Nations, who enters the championship game with 12 shutouts and five postseason clean sheets. The keeper has allowed just one goal in the playoffs.
“Coach Sandor (Jakab) is a big part of that,” Catlett said. “He works with us a lot on the mental side. We’ve stuck together more than previous years. We’ve been so energetic and so in tune with each other. Everybody this year has that drive. Now that we’re here, it’s one more game, two more practices.”
Contact Brad Bournival at bbournival@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: OHSAA boys soccer: Revere beats Lake Catholic to reach state final
