Copley, Hoban, Hudson, Manchester, Twinsburg, Walsh win girls soccer district titles

Division I, Northeast 3 District Final

Walsh Jesuit 3, Green 1

The second-seeded Warriors (15-2-2) won their 21st district title since the turn of the century on Thursday in a championship match at Chardon Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.

And they wasted no time in doing it against the fifth-seeded Bulldogs (11-4-5).

Their prize is a regional semifinal against Northeast 2 District winner Twinsburg (16-0-3) on Tuesday in Mentor.

It'll be a rematch of last year's regional semifinal won by Walsh, 4-2.

The Warriors got there thanks to Kayla Flory, who scored an unassisted goal 3:23 in and then added another 105 seconds later on a great through ball from Hannah Pachan.

Pachan accounted for the third goal nine minutes into the second half, heading one in on a beauty of a pass from Sofia Ruffa.

Green, which was making its first district final appearance since 2007, received a goal from Reese Lipscomb off a corner kick from Alexi Elkins with 7:40 left.

Division I, Northeast 2 District Final

Twinsburg 5, GlenOak 1

Top-seeded Twinsburg was tested in their semifinal Monday. On Thursday at Mayfield, the Tigers (16-0-3) looked like the favorite in every way.

Twinsburg's aggressive pressure on offense destroyed GlenOak's continuity, leading to a dominant win in a district final. The win gave Twinsburg (16-0-3) its third consecutive district title.

"It means a lot of great assistant coaches, great support from the administration, especially Brian Fantone, great support from the community and obviously, great players," Garber said . "It's a special night for it to happen when we get our third straight district title."

Twinsburg camped out in ninth-seeded GlenOak's end of the field in the first half and was only denied an early lead by solid defense and great work from Eagles goalkeeper Fallon Domer. Domer finished with 14 saves.

The Tigers kept coming and broke GlenOak's resistance in the 23rd minute, when Jadyn Harris sent a ball to the center, which Brenna Utrup turned into the net.

The floodgates seemed to open on GlenOak when a hard centering pass from the Tigers was turned into an own goal in the 34th minute. Three minutes later, Twinsburg's Bree Banach scored to make it 3-0.

Arriah Gilmer and Harris were constant menaces and both got their rewards early in the second half. Gilmer scored in the 50th mintue after a long run through the Eagles defense and Harris scored from distance in the 51st minute.

GlenOak forward Cereinity Gerber scored a goal in the 64th minute.

Twinsburg advanced to the regional semifinal Tuesday at Mentor against Walsh Jesuit.

Division I, Northeast 1 District Final

Hudson 1, Jackson 0

The fourth-seeded Explorers (13-4-2) used some late-game magic to upset the third-seeded Polar Bears (10-5-4) when Ava Bell scored with 8:16 left to push Hudson to a regional semifinal against Strongsville (13-1-3).

I told [Jackson head coach Frank Gagliardi] after the game that it was really the only clear-cut shot either team was able to generate," Explorers coach Caleb Fortune said. "It was a very even game. The kids are very excited to win the district title. I really think this group deserves it. They have worked so hard. This came against a really good team. Jackson is a great side and they are well coached."

Division I, Northeast 5 Final

Medina 5, Brecksville 0

Second-seeded Medina (17-1-2) extended its unbeaten streak to 18 games in a win over fifth-seeded Brecksville (12-5). Up next is a regional Tuesday against Magnificat, which handed Medina its only loss this season (Aug. 24, 3-2).

Olivia Sipsock (2 goals), Paige Noss, Addy Cusick and Audrey Johnson tallied goals.

"We have been playing consistently very well heading into the playoffs and felt if that continued we could advance," Medina coach Jason Rutkowski said. "I'm proud of our players tonight and the entire season and am looking forward to advancing to the next week. We always appreciate the opportunity to have a tomorrow."

Division II, Northeast 4 District Final

Archbishop Hoban 5, Buckeye 0

The third-seeded Knights (14-4) took a one-goal lead into the break before blowing this one open against the 20th-seeded Bucks (7-12).

Natalie Shimmel had a hat trick. Lauren Mahoney and Emma Rasmussen also scored to push Hoban to a regional semifinal Tuesday against Bay Village Bay (15-3).

The win gave the Knights a district title in their first season with Abbey Golden as the coach.

"Tonight, we're celebrating a little bit and loving being in the moment," Golden said. "Tomorrow, we're back at our chalk talk, film sessions and it's back to work. It's truly exciting as a coach and to make a statement, but it means more to have these girls buying into me and the program. ... We have a group of kids that believes a coach believes in them and loves them. The bus is bumping. It's rocking and the speaker is up as high as it can go."

Division II, Northeast 5 District Final

Copley 8, Parma Padua 0

Seniors Ashley Kerekes and Emma Stransky scored three goals apiece to lead top-seeded Copley (18-0-1) to its second district title in a row.

Senior Zara Warford contributed two goals as Copley, the No. 1 team in the Division II state coaches poll, advanced to a regional semifinal on Tuesday. Lexington and Ontario are set to meet Saturday in a district final and the winner is Copley’s next opponent.

Copley scored four goals in each half Thursday against sixth-seeded Padua (12-6-1) and held an edge in shots on goal (25-1) and corner kicks (5-0).

Kerekes and senior Allie Arnold each had two assists. Stransky, junior Kate Young and senior Gabby Niemczura had one assist apiece.

Division III, Northeast 3 District Final

Manchester 3, Willoughby Andrews Osborne Academy 0

Junior Katie Norris scored two goals and junior Gina Tipton netted one goal to power the top-seeded Panthers (19-1-0) to a district championship against the sixth-seeded Eagles (12-3-0).

Manchester is set to meet Chippewa in a regional semifinal on Tuesday at Twinsburg. Manchester topped Chippewa in the regular season last year and this year. The Chipps topped the Panthers in a district final last year.

The Panthers are the No. 2 team in the Division III state coaches poll and the Chipps are ranked No. 7.

Junior Lauren Gunsett had two assists and junior Jayden McKinney had one assist for Manchester, which won its first district title since 2014.

"We were obviously disappointed with the way the season ended last year and a major goal was to win a district championship this year," Manchester coach Eddie Kissner said. "Between Lauren, Katie and Gina − we have three girls that are very good at finishing and creating. They have led the way for us this year."

Norris has 50 goals and 22 assists this season. Tipton has 23 goals and eight assists and Gunsett has 23 goals and 10 assists.

Manchester junior Madi Cox made seven saves and compiled her 11th shutout of the season with assistance from junior defenders Kennedy Boal, Emily Allman, Myah Schaber and Carrie Clark.

The Panthers have outscored their opponents 98-9 this season.

VOLLEYBALL

Division I, Northeast 6 District Final

Highland 21-25-25-27, Olmsted Falls 25-19-22-25

The eighth-seeded Hornets (22-3) took out the top-seeded Bulldogs (23-2) to set up a regional final against Amherst (21-4) on Thursday.

It came thanks to the efforts of Alayna Tessena (18 kills, 19 digs, 5 blocks, 6 aces), Corinne Mutch (19 digs, 15 points) and Megan Scavuzzo (24 assists).

First-year coach Laura Merk, who was an assistant for five years with the Hornets, couldn't have been more thrilled with her team's efforts.

"It means so much because it was truly a testament of our girls," Merk said. "Having a new coach with four girls with any experience coming back after graduating nine, we knew we had talent. I think people overlooked that a little bit −not that they didn't think we would do well − but these girls bided their time to be in the spotlight and worked hard. They wanted to win district and did everything they needed to do to accomplish it."

− Compiled by Brad Bournival, Michael Beaven, Cliff Hickman and Michael Leonard

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Copley, Hoban, Hudson, Manchester, Twinsburg, Walsh advance in soccer