'We worked so hard for it:' Seton beats MND for regional title; SCD, CCD, Madeira advance
James Weber
LIBERTY TWP., Ohio – Scoring first was crucial when the last two Division I state champions met for the right to try for another one.
Seton scored two goals in the first nine minutes of the game and held on for a 2-1 win over Mount Notre Dame in the Region 4 championship of the Ohio High School Athletic Association girls soccer tournament.
Seton, 17-3-3 and defending state champs, will play Olentangy Liberty (18-2-1) in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Wright State. MND, the 2021 state champion, finishes 11-2-8.
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“Going back to back is one of the hardest things, especially coming out of this region,” Seton senior goalkeeper Riley Tarvin said.
The teams played twice during the season, with each team winning 3-2 on the other’s home field.
Early on, it appeared the teams might be headed for a similar score as Seton scored twice early. Three minutes in, junior Payton Oberjohann scored off a corner kick from senior Millie Cluxton for her third goal of the season and Cluxton’s team-high 21st assist.
Six minutes later, junior Lexi O’Shea scored during a scrum in front of the net for her 10th of the season.
“Teams at this level are too good to let them score first,” head coach John Volker said. “That’s what we preached. Take the game to them and play the way we’re capable of playing. To get up on them immediately, it put a little damper on them. It’s hard to go down 2-0 against us because we have so much firepower.”
MND got one back less than three minutes before halftime when junior Riley “R.J.” Marques had a shot saved by Tarvin. She got her own rebound and put it past Tarvin for her seventh goal of the season to make it 2-1.
Tarvin and the Saints shut out the Cougars in the second half. Senior Greta Harmeyer, a three-year starter, anchors the back line.
“We have a heck of a back line,” Volker said, “They don’t get any credit but (Harmeyer) is the glue that keeps our team together. She runs the whole back line. Her and Riley have been absolutely phenomenal. It’s a pleasure to coach them.”
Harmeyer said defending MND in the second half took a lot of work.
“It was a lot of communication since they changed the formation at halftime,” she said. “We had to adapt to it. We saw that since they were changing in the midfield, we had to stay back more.”
The Saints will go into the state tournament battle-tested after surviving a tough Region 4 tournament against a deep field including the Cougars.
“They’re an awesome team,” Tarvin said. “They make us better. Playing them throughout the season makes us learn and grow. It really built us and it makes winning feel so much better because we worked so hard for it.”
Seton has scored 96 goals this season. Seniors Kenzie Carle, Millie Cluxton and Ava Glahn have 16 or more goals. Carle has 16 assists and Cluxton 21.
Volker said the eight senior starters are ready for a second championship.
“Four of them have been varsity at least three years, some of them four years,” he said. “The leadership, the quality of individuals both on and off the field has been second to none. They come to practice every day. They work hard. They stay late. They keep their grades up. The camaraderie: They’re all about being one, about being a team. None of them care about individual glory.”
MND senior Avery May had 13 goals and eight assists. Senior Allison Charleston had four goals and Danielle Charleston had two. Senior Allie Lammers finished with 18 career shutouts, 11 in the state championship season of 2021.
Summit Country Day ends Waynesville's undefeated season, 3-1
Summit Country Day was the only team to get a result against the Waynesville girls soccer team during the regular season, playing to a 1-1 draw.
The Silver Knights now have their biggest result in six years by handing Waynesville its first loss of the season, 3-1, in the Division II, Region 8 final at Bellbrook.
Summit (18-1-3) advances to play Millersburg West Holmes (19-3) in the state semifinals 7 p.m. Tuesday at Marysville. Waynesville finishes 19-1-1.
Summit won a regional championship for the first time since winning a state title in 2017. The Silver Knights scored three times against a Spartans team that had allowed only 18 coming in.
Freshman Abigayle Penote scored all three goals for Summit to give her nine on the season.
She scored off an assist from Cammy Lorentz in the first half. With 12 minutes left in the game, she intercepted a pass and scored one-on-one to make it 2-0, then scored off an assist from Zoe Jackson.
Waynesville senior Samantha Erbach scored on a penalty kick late in the game for her 48th goal of the season and the 152nd of her stellar career.
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Erbach had finished third in the Division II cross country meet earlier in the day, one of four soccer players who raced in the meet and led the Spartans to sixth place in the team standings.
Erbach, who recently made the roster for the high school All-American game, had 26 assists for the year. Senior Brooke Woody had 31 goals and nine assists. Senior Jillian Layne had eight goals and 13 assists. Senior Kyla Harvey had three goals and 12 assists.
Waynesville has nine seniors who led the team to the Division III state title in 2021 and the 2022 title game in DII.
CCD and Madeira to meet in DIII state semis
Cincinnati Country Day overwhelmed Lynchburg-Clay 6-0 in the Region 11 championship game Saturday in Chillicothe.
CCD, 20-2 and the reigning DIII state champion, will play Madeira 7 p.m. Tuesday at Loveland in the state semifinals.
CCD led 4-0 at halftime. Elizabeth Zimmerman had two of her four goals in the first half. Kendall Weber and Piper Farris also found the net.
Zimmerman has a team-high 31 goals. Farris scored her 24th and Weber became the fourth Nighthawk in double figures with her 10th goal.
"I think that our team has worked through the whole season. This is our goal and it’s not over yet," said Zimmerman on CCD's account on X, formerly known as Twitter. "A lot of us played club together so we know each other. We’re sisters. Off the field, we bond and we're all good friends."
Madeira, 12-5-4 and Cincinnati Hills League champions, beat West Liberty-Salem 2-0 in the Region 12 final Saturday at Beavercreek.
Freshman Macy Mueller scored a goal and assisted on the team's first goal by Natasha Davis. It was Mueller's first goal of the season and Davis's eighth.
CCD won 1-0 against Madeira on Sept. 9 in Indian Hill.