COLUMBUS, OHIO - The Wildcats' quest for a seventh straight State Championship came up just short this past Monday night in a penalty shootout loss to Dublin Jerome. The loss would mark only the second time the Wildcats had lost in a State Final, the only other time being to Gahanna Lincoln in 2009. That game also ended in a shootout loss for the Wildcats.
After defeating St. Charles 1-0 in a 2024 state championship rematch in the State Semifinal, the Wildcats set their sights on Dublin Jerome. The two teams met previously on October 11th in the regular-season finale, when the Wildcats defeated the Celtics 2-1.
In the championship match, the Wildcats got the scoring started when
Nathan Gray slotted the ball past Jerome's Mason Jestice to get the scoring started in the 27th minute.
Early in the second half, on a corner kick, Jerome responded when Brady Delmore headed the ball past
Johnny Mulloy to tie the game in the 42nd minute.
Just four minutes later, Jerome would take the lead when Delmore notched his second goal on the evening on a loose ball in the box, which he fired past Mulloy.
The Wildcats played from behind for a majority of the second half, but would tie it up when
Sam Trivisonno lasered a shot from just inside the 18-yard line past Jestice to tie the game at two with 9:59 left in regulation.
At the end of regulation, the game was tied, and for the third straight season, the Division I State Championship headed to overtime.
Both teams had their chances in overtime, most notably when Jerome found the back of the net, but the goal was waved off for an offside. With no winner after the first overtime period, the game headed into a second.
Trivisonno had the best chance of the second overtime when he fired the ball off the post, missing his golden goal by mere inches. Still tied at the end of the period, the game headed into a penalty shootout. It would be the second time in three years that the Division I State Championship would come down to penalty kicks. In 2023, the Wildcats would defeat Archbishop Moeller in penalty kicks.
After Jestice saved
Dom Ruggiero's shot, Jerome took an advantage in the shootout when Crew Maust put the ball past Mulloy. The Wildcats would then score three consecutive times off the feet of
Declan Walters, Trivisono, and
Tyler Yohman. Combined with two saves, the Wildcats led the shootout 3-1 with a chance to win it.
Bryce Ince-Lovelace was next in line for the Wildcats, a goal scorer in the previous two state championships. With a chance to secure the win, Ince-Lovelace pushed the ball wide to the left, leaving the door open for Jerome.
The Celtics would tie the shootout and force it into extra rounds with Delmore and Dahi scoring, and Jestice making another save.
Dublin Jerome would crown themselves State Champions in the seventh round of the shootout when Sean Dempsey chipped the ball past
Johnny Mulloy, ending the shootout with a 4-3 final.
The win would be the first championship in program history for the Celtics and mark the first new Division I State Champion since 2018, despite being outshot 27-14. Though the night didn't end in celebration, the Wildcats' senior class concludes its career with an unmatched résumé of four straight state final appearances and a standard of consistency that continues to define Saint Ignatius soccer.
