OHSAA boys lacrosse: Dublin Jerome, Upper Arlington, DeSales capture regional titles
Dublin Jerome boys lacrosse coach Andy Asmo has all the confidence in the world in his attackers. So, when the Celtics needed a goal in the fourth quarter, they got it.
Marek Tzagournis assisted on all three of Carder Undergott’s goals, including a momentum-changer to open the fourth, as the duo led the host Celtics to a 19-11 win over Olentangy Liberty in the Division I, Region 1 final May 27.
“We have three excellent attackmen (including Preston Stucke),” Asmo said. “None of them can tell you (how much) they score or (how many) assists (they have) — they just play together. Today, it might have been a little bit more of Carder and Marek, but it’s the three of them that do such a great job for us.”
Jerome, which is looking to repeat as state champions, will face Hudson in a state semifinal June 1 at Ashland University. The Celtics defeated the Explorers 17-15 on April 22.
The top-seeded Celtics, who improved to 18-2, led by as many as nine goals late in the third. But the second-seeded Patriots rallied for six goals within the last 3 minutes, 32 seconds of the period, led by Grant Kenley, who scored twice.
“We got some breaks, we got some bounces and we had great effort,” Liberty coach Jason Godwin said. “(Jerome) is so athletic, it’s not even funny. You can see the opportunities they create for themselves just by being that fast. They press well, they pass, catch and shoot well.”
Tzagournis found a cutting Undergott to end the threat with 11:29 remaining, and the Celtics shut out the Patriots in the final period.
“They were in a zone and we kept running our two-man,” Tzagournis said. “Once the ball came back to me, (Undergott) kept creeping in the middle and finishing the ball.
“We’ve been playing together so long. We both looked at each other and knew we could get the ball in the net if it came back to us. He kept looking at me and I knew if I got him the ball, he was going to score.”
Tzagournis finished with two goals and five assists, Brady Sestilli and Chase Tzagournis added three goals apiece and goalie Brady White recorded eight saves for Jerome, which also beat Liberty 14-3 on May 4.
“(Liberty) played hard and they have a lot of kids that have a lot of pride,” Asmo said. “They gave us everything they had. I give our kids credit for taking a deep breath and just settling down and taking care of business.”
Owen McGee scored three goals, Charlie Howenstine had three assists and Max Ruppe had 14 saves for the Patriots, who finished 14-8.
“We just made a good run (at the end of the third),” Godwin said. “There was a lot of heart there. I think we had them nervous because of how we were able to score with them. We just couldn’t finish it.”
—Michael Rich
Upper Arlington 17, Hilliard Davidson 4
Jack Caine, Leo Caine and Tommy Janowicz each scored three goals and the top-seeded Golden Bears effectively salted away the Division I, Region 3 final by ending the first half on a 4-0 run to beat the visiting and second-seeded Wildcats.
Sam Burns, Quinn Crotty and Chris Mazzaferri all scored twice for UA, which improved to 20-1 and will face Cincinnati St. Xavier in a state semifinal June 1 at Centerville.
UA players chanted “X, X, X” almost as soon as the regional final was over in reference to St. Xavier. It will be the third consecutive season the Bears and Bombers have met at that stage, with the teams having split the previous meetings.
UA defeated St. Xavier 13-6 on April 30.
“We’re playing our best lacrosse right now,” Burns said. “We were able to move the ball around and get open shots. We’re gritty. We’re getting ground balls and spreading the ball around.”
UA also defeated Davidson 17-4 on May 9 in the OCC-Central Division finale for both teams.
Janowicz scored all of his goals in the first 8:43, helping stake the Bears to a 7-2 lead. The game was delayed 36 minutes because of lightning late in the first quarter, and Davidson held UA off the scoreboard for a 6:34 span of the second before Jack Caine and Leo Caine each scored twice to make it 12-3 at halftime.
“We talked during the delay that their backs were going to be against the wall and they were going to come out swinging,” Bears coach Kyle Olson said. “We’re deeper, though, and had the shots going our way tonight.”
Evan Lovely scored twice for Davidson, which finished 16-6 and was appearing in its first regional final.
“(UA) is an incredibly talented team,” Wildcats coach Dave Ames said. “They came out fast and hit us hard and forced us back on our heels.”
—Dave Purpura
DeSales 14, Columbus Academy 4
After losing to Watterson 9-7 in the Division II, Region 7 final a year ago, DeSales coach Matt Triplet admitted his team used that as motivation this season.
The top-seeded Stallions atoned for that setback by beating the visiting and second-seeded Vikings in this year's regional final.
“One-hundred percent that was motivation,” Triplet said. “We’ve been riding them all season about getting knocked off at our home field. That was a focal point of ours. No. 1, it was to our rival and No. 2, (the game was) at home.”
DeSales improved to 14-4 and will play Cincinnati Mariemont in a state semifinal May 31 at Bellbrook. The Stallions are seeking their third state title and first since 2018.
DeSales took control early, scoring twice in the first 2:03, and led 5-1 after one quarter.
“It was key to get off to a good start,” Triplet said. “The boys struggled a lot of times throughout the season in getting a quick start, so that has been the focus in the postseason, getting off to a quick one.”
The Stallions had seven players score, led by Jackson Carawan's four goals and one assist. Ty Hampton scored three goals and David Chintala and Liam Harmon added two apiece.
DeSales goalie Gavin Burns finished with 15 saves.
Henry Rubey led the Vikings with two goals, and Zach White and Drake Bellisari added one apiece. Academy goalie Parker Knapp had 11 saves and Kyle Bernstorf added one.
Competing in their first regional final, the Vikings finished 17-3.
“We thought that we had a better shot than what we showed,” Academy coach Derek Lichtfuss said. “We didn’t show up today. They jumped on us right away. We were a little flat to start. We changed a few things and slowed them down a little bit in the second half, but when you get in a position where you’re chasing the whole game it gets pretty hard to dig out that big of a hole.”
—Frank DiRenna
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Lacrosse: Jerome, Upper Arlington, DeSales win regional titles
