Copley, Medina win boys soccer district titles; Copley volleyball advances to regional
The Copley boys soccer team snapped a nine-season skid Saturday and will return to the regional level for the first time since 2014.
Copley, which came in as the 11th seed, upset third-seeded North Ridgeville 1-0 to win the Division I, Elyria 2 District championship.
Robbie Rochford put Copley (11-6-3) in the lead when he collected a pass from Asher Hart with 29:40 left in the first half and scored the only goal his squad needed against the Rangers (18-1).
The win set up a regional semifinal at Brunswick against four-time reigning state champion St. Ignatius (13-3).
“After an arduous preseason and regular season we are thrilled to still be playing,” Copley coach Dave Antal said. “It’s been quite some time since we’ve been here. Robbie Rochford has been fantastic, scoring two big-time goals to help us to victory.
“The boys are jelling at the right time. They have always believed in each other, so it is nice to see it translate into massive back-to-back wins (Copley beat Shaker Heights 1-0 earlier in the week). As an 11 seed, nobody expected us to be here, except for us. We play a tough schedule to be ready for this exact moment.”
Division I, Akron 4 District final
Medina 3, Wadsworth 2
The top-seeded Bees (18-0-1) won their ninth consecutive district title — the last time they lost was to Copley in 2014.
It came when Medina rallied from a one-goal deficit after Harrison James opened the scoring for the ninth-seeded Grizzlies (11-6-3).
Dylan Gannon tied the score, and Cole Turchyn and Owen Alber built the cushion and Medina rolled into halftime with a two-goal lead.
Wadsworth made it interesting when Michael Watson converted a penalty kick with 13:51 left.
“This time of year never gets old because it’s win and advance or lose and go home,” Medina coach Doug Coreno said. “We had some mental lapses we’ll have to correct by the next round, but tonight we’re happy.”
The Bees will next play Wednesday at Twinsburg against Hudson (15-4) in a rematch of a Sept. 2 game won 3-0 by Medina.
Division I, Chardon 2 district final
North Canton Hoover 3, Stow 1
Alec McLeod, Jonas Jacob and Ethan Jones scored goals to lead the Vikings (16-3-1) to a district final win over the Bulldogs (9-4-7) at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin.
"Stow is a tough opponent," Hoover coach Jonathan Zahn said. "We knew it was going to be a tight game. I'm very proud of what the boys were able to come out and accomplish today. They definitely went out and earned the right to call themselves back-to-back district champions."
Sophomore Mateo Garduno, who scored Stow's goal, is set to return next season with starting experience along with sophomores Evan Butler and Amari Darrow and junior Alex Kuhlke.
"We have 11 seniors," Stow coach Kyle Kosmala said. "Our seniors helped put together a strong season. Our strength was our ability to shut down our opponents and keep them from scoring. We had nine shutouts this season.
"In the second half today we weren’t able to make the defensive plays that we made all season to keep us in every game. North Canton is a difficult team to beat, and they have had a great season."
Stow is losing eight senior starters to graduation: Josh Marcinick, Ben Dunmire, Sam Morris, Ethan Kinkpoph, Davis Broghammer, Carson Boyd, Reece Raymond-Smith and Rory Wilson.
Hoover is set to meet Walsh Jesuit (17-2-1) in a regional semifinal at Parma's Byers Field at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Division II, Macedonia 4 district final
Bay Village Bay 2, St. Vincent-St. Mary 1 (2 OT)
Senior Milo Hignett scored a goal in double overtime to propel the Rockets (12-7-1) past the Irish (9-8-1) in a Division II district final at Nordonia High School.
Bay took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal by junior Ben Frey, and STVM drew even in the second half on a goal by senior Diego Pinto.
STVM coach Vito Testa Jr. is set to lose 11 seniors to graduation, including starters Andrew Hagey, Christian Kesler, Raylen McCray, Max Milkovich, Ehpe Soe, Casey Kula and Pinto.
The Irish are slated to return junior starters Glory Hser, Gionni Ciarlariello and Noah Graham and freshman starter J.J. Pytash.
VOLLEYBALL
Division II, Northeast 4 district final
Copley 3, Beaumont 1
Seniors Katey Firestine and Alexa Strandberg provided the power and sophomore Annie Quinlan and senior Josie Tielsch provided the passing to lead Copley (18-8) to a district title win over Beaumont (14-11) at Tallmadge.
Copley won the first set 29-27 and Beaumont took the second set 27-25. Copley won both the third and fourth sets 25-18.
Firestine totaled 23 digs, 15 kills, 14 service points and two aces. Strandberg finished with 13 kills, 10 service points and three aces.
Quinlan contributed 22 assists and Tielsch had 19 assists. Copley's other statistical leaders were sophomore Meryn Stacey (26 digs), sophomore Kalynn Stoner (three blocks) and sophomore Angelina Cerra (three blocks).
"We had three returning lettermen and nine new players on the varsity when the season started," Copley coach Antoine Pastor said. "The three returning lettermen are Katey Firestine, Alexa Strandberg and Kalynn Stoner.
"We are finally starting to believe in ourselves as a team. I think it took us a while to really trust all of the new pieces on the court and really believe we could be successful with so many new additions to the varsity team after losing a really big senior class that has been on varsity for a while."
Freshman Ava Teixeira, senior Abby Klein, sophomore Natalia Hamilton and juniors Carmen Cunat and Alexis Walker are also among the newcomers making an impact for Copley.
Copley will play Padua at 6 p.m. Thursday in a regional semifinal at Alliance.
— Compiled by Brad Bournival and Michael Beaven
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Copley wins OHSAA boys soccer, girls volleyball district championships
