Dublin Jerome, Grandview Heights win boys soccer regional championships

Dublin Jerome 1, New Albany 0

Dublin Jerome cleared its third major obstacle of the postseason to earn its first Division I state tournament berth since 2008.

The Celtics advanced to state by beating New Albany in a regional final Nov. 6 at DeSales.

Jerome improved to 13-7-1 and will play Centerville in a state semifinal Nov. 10 at Chillicothe.

The state final is Nov. 13 at Lower.com Field.

“This has been an amazing journey this team has been on,” Jerome coach Nate Maust said. “I’m super proud of them. This is awesome.”

Jerome opened the season with a 4-1 loss to New Albany on Aug. 20.

After a scoreless first half in the regional final, the Celtics scored the lone goal when David Kish’s corner kick eluded goalie Oliver Cush with 27 minutes, 26 seconds remaining.

The Eagles, who finished 20-1, had numerous chances to tie the game in the closing minutes but couldn’t beat Jerome goalie Ethan Ogden, who finished with six saves.

“It was an incredible season,” New Albany coach Johnny Ulry said. “We went 20-1, got to the elite eight. Obviously, their game plan was to sit in because they couldn’t play us straight up. They sat in, and they have a really good goalie. They got a corner kick that was an own goal. I told the boys I’m proud of them. It’s part of life; it’s part of a learning experience.”

On their way to the regional title, the Celtics beat Upper Arlington 3-1 in a district final and Westerville Central 1-0 in overtime in a regional semifinal. New Albany was seeded first in the district tournament followed by Central and Upper Arlington. Jerome was ninth.

St. Ignatius was first and New Albany was second in the final regular-season state rankings.

“There’s reason why we’re here,” Maust said. “This is a special group. What a story for other people to look at. New Albany is a phenomenal team. They had a great season. ... This team was 8-7-1 and went through some ups and downs and all of a sudden, we’re able to rally around each other and start to become successful and beat the three seed and the two seed and the one seed. That’s a story to tell people.”

The Celtics also reached a state semifinal in 2006.

–Frank DiRenna

Grandview Heights 6, Berlin Hiland 1

Will DeVere scored three times and Danny Claypool added a goal and assisted on two others as the third-ranked Bobcats cruised in a Division III regional final at Zanesville West Muskingum.

The Bobcats improved to 15-4-2 and advanced to play top-ranked and defending state champion Cincinnati Madeira in a state semifinal Nov. 10 at Bloom-Carroll. Madeira defeated Worthington Christian 3-0 in a regional final to improve to 18-2-1.

The state final is Nov. 13 at Lower.com Field.

“I was in middle school when (2019 graduates) Manny (Day) and Sam Freeman were on a team that made it to the state semifinals, and I always wanted to be a part of a team that did that,” said DeVere, a junior forward. “After they scored first, we knew we had been outplaying them. We knew if we kept playing our game we would get more (goals).”

The Hawks scored with 13:01 left in the first half on a goal by Reese Mullet off a pass from Zach Mullet. DeVere scored 1:34 later off a Claypool assist to tie the game at 1.

The Bobcats added two more first-half goals on penalty kicks. Jack Mollette had the first with 7:10 left, and Claypool added a second with 1:36 remaining.

“They scored first on us last year (in a 4-1 win in a regional semifinal), but we were able to come back and win,” said Grandview coach James Gerdes, whose team outshot Hiland 19-2. “It was important that we were able to answer their goal quickly. Hiland was a tough team, and we were able to get some goals to go in the net.”

Jaylen Brown had the other goal from a Claypool assist and goalie Luke Clark-Moody had one save.

Wyatt Freeman had 13 saves for the Hawks, who finished 14-6-1.

–Scott Hennen

Cincinnati Madeira 3, Worthington Christian 0

The Warriors fell behind early against the No. 1-ranked team in the final Division III state poll and had their season end with a loss at Bellbrook.

Madeira, which improved to 18-2-1, took a 1-0 lead six minutes into the game when Colin Hacker headed in a shot following a pass by Will Briet.

Then with 19 minutes left in the first half, Hacker scored off a pass from Bridger Blackwelder for a 2-0 lead.

The final goal, by Blackwelder, came with a minute left in the first half.

While Madeira posted its fifth shutout in six postseason games, Worthington Christian finished 11-8-2 after what was its first appearance in a regional final since it reached a state semifinal in 2013.

–Jarrod Ulrey

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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: High school boys soccer: Columbus-area regional finals roundup