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2 area teams face Hawken test
2 soccer teams face Hawken test
Mooney and Champion could meet
By Ryan Buck
While the Canfield High boys and girls soccer teams claimed Division II district titles, four other area teams likewise won their districts and advance to this week’s regional play.
GIRLS
In the Division III tournament, the Champion and Cardinal Mooney girls teams are on opposite sides of the regional bracket. Should both win tonight, they will meet in the regional final on Saturday.
The Cardinals (12-6-1) will take on Elyria Catholic tonight at Nordonia High School in Macedonia after rolling through their district. They scored 24 goals in three games, including a 5-1 road win over United in the district final.
The Flashes will see Gates Mills Hawken, a perennial state power, tonight at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High.
In Dan Houle’s 22 years at Champion, he’s taken three teams to the regional rounds, the last coming in 2011.
The Flashes start six seniors, all of whom contributed to that team.
“They’re the ones everyone’s counting on,” Houle said. “They’ve got the experience.”
Hawken (13-1-5) played one of the strongest regular season schedules in Ohio and followed that with 26 goals in three games in their district tournament.
“The girls know what they’re up against and they’ve just been practicing hard and, what more can I say?” Houle said. “They know what they have to do.”
The Flashes upended top-seeded Rootstown in the district final. They have spent the past week preparing for the field turf surfaces they will play on the rest of the way.
BOYS
Badger also will see Hawken in a Division III regional semifinal. Like their girls squad, the Hawks (11-7-1) are a state power and annually play a strong schedule.
In his first year as the varsity coach, Justin Deraway led the Braves to the district title with a 2-1 win over Lordstown. He was the junior varsity coach and varsity assistant for the Braves’ last trips to the regional in the 2007-08 seasons.
“I really learned that we can hang with any team if we stick with the fundamentals, possess the ball and play great defense,” Deraway said. “That’s what we’ve tried to do all year.”
The Braves have a balanced offensive attack, but look for leading scorer Joe Gorospe (19 goals, eight assists) when they need goals. Colton Kellog was second on the team with 8 goals and also tallied 8 assists.
“It’s been a collective effort all year scoring goals,” Deraway said. “We look to them to score, but if we’re successful in the next round it’s because of a team effort.”
Hawken defeated Kirtland 5-2 at home to reach the regional semifinal round.
The Braves and Hawks will play Wednesday at Brunswick High.
The other game in the region has the South Range Raiders (11-4-4) meeting Doylestown Chippewa (16-0-3) at Twinsburg High.
Raiders’ coach Alan Styer wasn’t surprised that forward Cole Durina scored the game-winning goal in Saturday’s 1-0 overtime victory over St. Thomas Aquinas in the district final.
“He’s got good skills, good ability, but what makes him what he is, is that he just doesn’t quit. He’s had a number of goals this year where he won a ball at midfield and just by pure force of will he got it down the field and put it in the goal.”
“They only time he’s ever off the field is if he’s bleeding,” assistant coach Joe Staffeld said.
Styer added, “And he’s usually the first one to come off bleeding.”
Playing in colder temperatures doesn’t faze Durina.
“Dress warm, stretch a lot, I kind of like playing in cold conditions,” Durina said. “It makes it kind of a ‘who wants it more’ kind of [game].”
On earning South Range’s first regional appearance, senior defenseman Tyler Rothbauer said, “It’s the greatest feeling in the world. It’s going to be a great game and we’re going to try and keep moving [forward].
“We’re not done yet.”
Sportswriter Tom Williams contributed to this report.