Boys Soccer: Top central Ohio squads construct challenging schedules
Grandview Heights won the Division III boys soccer state championship last season, but that’s only part of the story of the team’s success.
Winners of eight consecutive district titles, the Bobcats haven’t won a league championship since 2014. Their postseason success is due, in part, to the progress made throughout the season by scheduling top opponents.
That’s almost always part of the plan for area coaches. Setting up a challenging schedule is the beginning of building a better postseason squad.
“It’s critical (to have a difficult schedule), but it can also be a bit of a double-edged sword,” said Grandview coach James Gerdes, who is in his seventh season. “By having a challenging schedule, maybe your record doesn’t look as good at the tournament draw as a team that doesn’t play as challenging of a schedule. We try to look beyond that and really challenge our players, especially at the beginning of the season. The experience makes you battle-hardened and gets you ready for what you may face later on.”
This season, the Bobcats scheduled Division I opponents Hilliard Davidson and Watterson and Division III standouts Cincinnati Mariemont, Toledo Ottawa Hills and Troy Christian. Those are additions to a tough MSL-Ohio schedule that features defending champion Bexley, Columbus Academy, Wellington and Worthington Christian.
New Albany maneuvered a difficult schedule in 2021 to go 16-0 in the regular season before losing to Dublin Jerome 1-0 in a Division I regional final. Coach Johnny Ulry again stacked the Eagles’ slate with the likes of defending district champions Jerome and Westerville Central, area powers Dublin Coffman and St. Charles and state standouts Cincinnati Moeller and Mason.
“We’ll see some of the top teams early so our kids can have an idea of the speed of play against the really good teams,” Ulry said. “We don’t care about going undefeated (in the regular season) or winning a league title. Those things are nice, but what we’re playing for is getting to and winning a district final. We have seven weeks to prepare for the tournament.”
Coach Kevin Donovan looks to do the same with Upper Arlington, which fell to Jerome 3-1 in a district final last season to finish 16-2-1.
“We always try to play a tough schedule because it gets us ready for the tournament,” he said. “We are able to play the other OCC teams that we know will be a test and play some tough teams from out of the area like Beavercreek and (Hunting Valley) University School.”
St. Charles opened with a 5-0 victory Aug. 12 at Hilliard Darby, then was scheduled to face sixof the state’s top teams – Coffman, Jerome, Olentangy Liberty, Strongsville, New Albany and Cleveland St. Ignatius – before opening CCL play Sept. 13. The Cardinals also play Centerville on Sept. 24.
“We play three state semifinal teams in Jerome, Centerville and St. Ignatius and six of the final eight,” said St. Charles coach Chris Vonau, whose team finished 12-5-3 last year, losing to Canal Winchester 2-0 in a district final. “We want a gauntlet to get these guys ready to play at the end of the year.”
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Early season Super 12
Gabe Anthony
School: New Albany
Year: Senior
Anthony, a forward, recorded 28 goals and six assists a year ago as the Eagles started 20-0 before losing in a Division I regional final. He will be depended on even more this year after several key losses to graduation.
Anthony earned first-team all-OCC-Ohio Division and second-team all-state honors as a junior and is one of only two starters back for New Albany, which went 38-5-1 over the past two seasons.
Miles Bonham
School: Upper Arlington
Year: Senior
Bonham, a midfielder and three-year starter, scored 12 goals and assisted on 14 last year to lead another successful season for the Golden Bears.
UA went 16-2-1 and was a Division I district runner-up for the third consecutive season. Bonham earned OCC-Central Player of the Year, first-team all-district and second-team all-state honors as well as his first Super 12 selection.
Colin Callahan
School: Hartley
Year: Senior
With 13 goals and 13 assists, Callahan was essential in helping the Hawks capture a Division II district championship while serving as an attacking midfielder and will be the “straw the stirs the drink” on the team this fall, according to coach Justin Alexander.
Callahan earned first-team all-district honors as Hartley finished 12-8-1 a year after it was a district runner-up.
Danny Claypool
School: Grandview Heights
Year: Senior
The midfielder/forward scored three goals in the Division III state final to help lead the Bobcats to the school’s first state team title, defeating Columbiana Crestview 4-2.
Claypool had 17 goals and 10 assists to earn second-team all-league honor and helped the Bobcats win their eighth consecutive district title. As a sophomore, he had five goals and four assists.
Will DeVere
School: Grandview Heights
Year: Senior
This midfielder/forward and the Bobcats have high hopes after winning the Division III state title last fall.
As a junior, DeVere was first-team all-state and all-league and MSL-Ohio Player of the Year. He had 20 goals and 14 assists to lead the Bobcats and was named Super 12 Captain.
DeVere also led his team in scoring as a sophomore with 15 goals and two assists.
Evan French
School: Canal Winchester
Year: Senior
The midfielder had 17 goals a season ago, second on the team to graduate Chase Alwood’s 20, to help lead the Indians to the program’s third Division I district championship and first since 2014.
French, who did not score any goals as a sophomore, is one of five returning starters for Canal Winchester. The Indians went 16-5-1 last year, losing in a regional semifinal.
Jack Henry
School: Pickerington Central
Year: Senior
Henry, a forward, is coming off a strong junior season in which he scored 15 goals and assisted on seven to help lead the Tigers to their second consecutive OCC-Buckeye championship.
Henry was named league Player of the Year and first-team all-district. Central went 10-7-1 and outscored its league opponents 22-21 but lost in the second round of the Division I district tournament.
Jack Maust
School: Dublin Jerome
Year: Junior
Maust, a forward, helped lead the Celtics to a Division I state semifinal a season ago, losing to Centerville 3-1 to finish 13-8-1. He led the team in scoring with 14 goals and five assists and was named first-team all-OCC-Cardinal and second-team all-district.
The Celtics won their first district title since 2017 and eighth overall.
James McCann
School: Bexley
Year: Senior
McCann scored a team-high 10 goals and had five assists last season, and he expects to be a top scoring threat again for the Lions.
The midfielder was first-team all-district and all-league as Bexley won the MSL-Ohio at 5-0-1 for its first league championship since 2015. The Lions were the top seed for the Division II district tournament and finished 10-4-4 overall, losing to Granville 1-0 in a district semifinal.
Zack Rennie
School: DeSales
Year: Senior
A midfielder and four-year varsity player, Rennie was a defensive anchor as the Stallions went 10-6-4 last fall and finished as a Division II district runner-up.
Rennie, who also saw time as a forward in previous seasons, was named first-team all-CCL, all-district and all-state. He is one of 25 players from Ohio who is on the watch list for the 2022 High School All-American Game, scheduled for Dec. 10.
Lincoln Ulrich
School: Olentangy Berlin
Year: Senior
Ulrich helped the Bears win their first league championship, going 4-0-1 in the OCC-Cardinal.
A physical defender who has the athletic ability to beat opponents with the ball, Ulrich earned second-team all-district and first-team all-league honors as Berlin finished 13-3-2 overall, losing to Canal Winchester 2-0 in a Division I district semifinal.
Charley Valachovic
School: St. Charles
Year: Senior
Valachovic is in his third season in goal. He had 68 saves and eight shutouts last season as St. Charles finished 12-5-3, losing to Westerville Central 1-0 in a Division I district final.
Valachovic earned first-team all-league and all-district honors as his team won its fourth consecutive CCL title. He also had nine shutouts as a sophomore.
Early season Super 7
1. St. Charles – The Cardinals were a Division I district runner-up and won their fourth consecutive CCL championship last season, and coach Chris Vonau has another talented flock with which to work. Senior Charley Valachovic is one of the top goalies in the area. Senior defenders Connor Morgan and Colin Sullivan also return and Sullivan’s freshman brother, Ryan Sullivan, should add offensive power along with senior Josh Ulibarri.
2. Dublin Jerome – Competing in their third state tournament a season ago, the Celtics lost to Centerville 3-1 in a Division I semifinal to finish 13-8-1. Jerome returns a solid group, led by junior forward Jack Maust, who led the team in scoring with 14 goals and five assists. Senior defender Carson Browning is another top returnee.
3. Dublin Coffman – The Shamrocks closed the 2021 regular season by winning five of six and reached a Division I district semifinal to finish 7-7-4. Senior Jack Jennings and junior Zach Rollins lead the way as Coffman looks for its best season since winning a district title in 2018.
4. Upper Arlington – The Golden Bears hope this is the season they get over the hump after three consecutive years as a Division I district runner-up. Second-team all-state senior midfielder Miles Bonham should play an even bigger role after scoring 12 goals last year, and UA also has senior goalie Zach Harrison, senior Jack Lowe and junior Josh Ali back for an experienced defense.
5. New Albany – The Eagles lost many of the top contributors from last year’s team that started 20-0 and was an own goal away from its second consecutive Division I state tournament, so remaining among the area’s elite likely will take time and growth. Senior forward Gabe Anthony had 28 goals and six assists last year, but the only other returning starter is senior defender Josh Richardson.
6. Canal Winchester – The cupboard is not bare for the Indians, who are coming off their first Division I district championship since 2014. They return 27 goals between seniors Isaiah Coleman and Josh French and bring back much of their defense, including senior Mathias Noffsinger and juniors Joel Mendoza-Lopez and Beck Snode.
7. Grandview Heights – The Bobcats return a strong nucleus from a squad that won the Division III state championship, including last year’s Super 12 Captain in senior forward/midfielder Will DeVere. Senior forward/midfielder Danny Claypool scored three goals in the state final.
HARTLEY
•Coach: Justin Alexander, fourth season
•Top players: Daniel Anomakoh, Matthew Boyd, Colin Callahan, Malcolm Gillies, A.J. Lentz and Marco Macatangay
•Key losses: Gabe Donaghy, Tony Epstein, Alex Gabriel, Emmett Gillies and Jake Scurlock
•Last season: 12-8-1 overall
•2021 CCL standings: St. Charles (4-0), Watterson (3-1), Hartley (2-2), DeSales (1-3), Ready (0-4)
•2021 postseason: Def. Columbus South 13-0; def. Hamilton Township 6-1; def. Bloom-Carroll 4-1; def. DeSales 1-0; lost to Cincinnati Wyoming 5-0 in Division II regional semifinal
•Outlook: The Hawks followed a 2020 season in which they were district runners-up by winning a district title last fall. Their 12 wins were more than twice as many compared to the year before.
Senior forward Colin Callahan, who had 13 goals and 13 assists and was first-team all-district, is the top returnee. Sophomore midfielder Matthew Boyd is someone coach Justin Alexander believes could be a “special player now and at the next level.”
Expected to take over at goalie is sophomore Henry Gillies after his brother, 2022 graduate Emmett Gillies, was in that role last season.
Senior A.J. Lentz and sophomore Marco Macatangay have returned to lead the defense, and sophomore Daniel Anomakoh is at holding midfielder. Junior Conner Bjornson is a newcomer who should make an impact at defender.
Sophomores Ryan Cartagena and Malcolm Gillies should be other top forwards.
Binyum Chegen (midfielder), Zak Haftu (forward), Grayson Page (defender), Peter Reinker (defender) and Michael Scali (forward) are seniors looking to contribute.
•Quotable: “This may sound cliché, but to get better each and every day (is our goal). We graduated nine players last season who all played a large role in our successful season. Our goal is to be playing our best in October. I really believe in this group. They’ve been committed to improving, they ask questions, they want feedback and they apply it. I’ve enjoyed this group and what they bring each day.” — Alexander
REYNOLDSBURG
•Coach: Tony Labudovski, seventh season
•Top players: Abdul Abukar, Max Kepemb, Carson McCroskey, Landon Miars and Ryan Perion
•Key losses: Abubacarr Badje, Nassir Disuki, Ibrahim Fall, Yotam Fishatsion and Abdi Nurr
•Last season: 8-7-3 overall
•2021 OCC-Buckeye standings: Pickerington Central (5-0), Reynoldsburg (4-1), Newark (2-3), Central Crossing and Groveport (both 1-3-1), Lancaster (1-4)
•2021 postseason: Def. Watkins Memorial 4-0; lost to Chillicothe 1-0 (2OT) in second round of Division I district tournament
•Outlook: After winning the OCC-Ohio title in 2019, the Raiders finished second behind Pickerington Central in the OCC-Buckeye each of the past two seasons.
Their hopes of improving on that finish will hinge on the leadership of seniors Carson McCroskey (center back) and Max Kepemb (forward) and junior Landon Miars (center midfielder), combined with how quickly a group of players taking on key roles for the first time mature.
Juniors James Matchett and Anthony Alioto are splitting time at goalie, with junior center back Joseph Sanzone, senior Ryan Perion and junior Mason Worthington also serving as key defenders.
Joining Miars at midfielder are juniors Noah Dulay and Frederick Theibert, with senior Abdul Abukar on the wing and sophomore Zach Taylor on the wing and at midfielder.
Senior winger Janam Gurung and sophomore defenders Mo Camara and Michael Willis are others who should see significant action.
•Quotable: “This team is the most coachable I’ve had. A lot of them are new to varsity, so they’re a little bit inexperienced, but I’d rather have that kind of group because they’re so coachable. They’ll run through a brick wall for you. We’re excited. We’ve got a bunch of new guys on varsity and they don’t know what to expect, but they’ll work hard for you. We’re just a blue-collar team.” — Labudovski
—Jarrod Ulrey
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Soccer: Top central Ohio squads construct challenging schedules
