ASHLAND, OH - The Saint Ignatius Soccer Cats (15-4-2) have had tremendous success throughout the OHSAA Postseason. Coming into Wednesday night, the Wildcats were outscoring their opponents 25-0 through four games, securing a District and Regional Title and clinching a berth into the OHSAA State Semifinal.
A sixth consecutive State Championship appearance would have to go through Lewis Center Olentangy (15-3-2), a team making its State Semifinal debut. Olentangy came off Regional wins against Dublin Jerome and Olentangy Orange.
The match would kick off at 7 p.m. from Ashland Community Stadium, roughly 60 miles from Saint Ignatius High School. Both teams would use the first minutes of the contest, feeling each other out, but the Wildcats would dominate possession time early on, getting early chances from Marty McLaughlin that were blocked by the Braves.
At the 17-minute mark of the first half, the Braves earned their first scoring opportunity with a corner kick. A beautiful kick was executed and headed into the back of the Wildcat net. As the Braves faithful erupted in cheers, the official waved off the goal for a penalty on Olentangy, keeping the match a scoreless tie.
With 8:47 remaining in the first half, Rafa de la Barrera would find fellow team captain McLaughlin on a cross pass. With a sweep of his left leg, McLaughlin had a clear shot of the net and finessed a shot past Alex Kerestan to give the Wildcats the early 1-0 advantage.
"We were not getting any chances early on. We knew we had to set a tone," explains McLaughlin. "Rafa [De La Berrera] played a perfect ball across, I just tee'd the ball up and got the goal."
The Braves would regroup on defense, stifling a couple of Wildcat chances before the half, and the score would remain 1-0 heading into the break.
40-minutes remained in regulation as Olentangy came out looking for the equalizer. Ten minutes into the second half, the Braves were awarded a free kick after a penalty was called on McLaughlin.
The kick from Olentangy's Sawyer Wilbanks on the free kick was perfect, with tremendous hang time that caught the Wildcats out of position. Senior Josh Speelman ran out to make a play on the ball, but Lucas Brinkman headed in the ball right before Speelman could make the save and the ball found the back of the net to tie the match at one.
After the score, the momentum swung in favor of the Braves, controlling the time of possession in the Wildcat zone, putting significant pressure on Speelman with 20 minutes to go in regulation.
The Cats would earn a corner kick and call upon McLaughlin to service the ball into the box with 1:43 remaining in the second half. McLaughlin has been elite in finding a way to put the ball in the back of the net on the corner. Unfortunately, he put too much loft on the kick this time, and it went over the net.
The Braves would play conservatively in the closing minute, preparing for overtime. Eighty minutes were in the book, and extra time was on the way to determine who would head to Historic Crew Stadium.
In the opening minutes of the 15-minute sudden death period, junior Dom Ruggiero had an opening chance but would push the shot just to the right of the net.
McLaughlin would be called again for a corner kick; it was a nicely placed ball, but an even better clearance from the Braves goalkeeper in Kerestan.
The Braves continued to make big plays on defense but were unable to set up an offensive attack on the Wildcats.
Twelve minutes into overtime, the Wildcats set up their best offensive attack of the night. Ruggiero gained possession and placed a through ball to junior Sammy Trivisonno. At a wide angle, Trivisonno took his chance. With a defender on his hip, Trivisonno fired, launching the kick past Kerestan and finding the back of the net. Trivisonno would clinch a sixth consecutive State Championship appearance with his walk-off goal in the 92nd minute.
"We had so many chances in the game, we just could not break through," says Trivisonno. "Eventually, we had to capitalize, and luckily, that was the one, and we're moving on."
The Wildcats advance to their 15th OHSAA State Championship with the 2-1 overtime win over Olentangy. The Wildcats will face the Columbus St. Charles Prep Cardinals at Historic Crew Stadium on Sunday, November 10, at 7 p.m.
The Cats aim to win an unprecedented sixth straight OHSAA State Championship. With a win Sunday, it would be the program's 14th title.
The Cardinals are a familiar opponent for the Wildcats. Both teams met earlier this season on September 7 at St. Charles, and the Wildcats won 4-2 at Walt Plank Field.
NFHS Network will have the live stream of the State Championship contest, and the SIBN will have the audio stream.
