This story has been updated to include the GlenOak High School girls soccer team, which was omitted from the initial version.
Shocks, surprise wins and expected outcomes. The 2024 OHSAA boys and girls soccer tournaments are full of all three this season.
The added number of divisions has created new opportunities and several area teams and players have seized the moment and are ready to take the stage at the regional level of the tournament this week. Here’s a look at the eight regional qualifiers from Greater Canton, starting with the lone all-Stark County matchup.
Federal league rivals collide in a Division I regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday, at Twinsburg High School. Jackson is no stranger to being at this stage of the tournament. The Polar Bears have won 14 district championships since 2003. … Jackson defeated GlenOak 4-1 in the regular season and enters with a streak of six consecutive shutouts. The Polar Bears have 12 shutouts total this season. Jackson has a strong midfield unit featuring Grant Blake, Shane Atkinson and Luke Morgan. … GlenOak enters having won six of its last seven games, with two shutouts. The Golden Eagles have eight total shutouts. GlenOak has a strong core of scoring options including Nick Walls, Anthony Kelly and Enzo Gliatta.
Jackson has won seven of its last eight games heading into this regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Tuesday, at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. The Polar Bears draw one of the favorites to reach the state championship game in unbeaten Walsh Jesuit, which won its 11th state title a year ago. … Walsh Jesuit defeated Jackson 4-0 in September but these are different teams at this point of the season. Jackson has a high-powered offense with Addision Niemi, Emerson Karageorge, Campbell Wood, Maggie Soehnlen and Rebekah Yoder all capable of scoring. Ohio State recruit Elizabeth Rozmajzl tends the goal for Jackson. … Reagan Pentz, Lauren Sibel and Hannah Pachan are just some of the highly-skilled scorers Walsh Jesuit can call upon. They are trying to lead Walsh to a third state final appearance in the last four years. Walsh is 36-2-3 over the last two seasons.
The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles won their district title by upsetting second-seeded Medina 1-0. Addison Hamm, one of the top scorers in Northeast Ohio delivered the game-winning goal with a header off a corner kick. Medina beat GlenOak 2-1 a month ago. … Hamm, a senior, scored all three goals in GlenOak’s 3-2 win over Berea-Midpark in the district semifinals. She has scored 31 goals this season to go with five assists. She helped lead GlenOak to an 8-0 start to this season, as the Eagles scored four or more goals in five of those wins. Junior Ava Pultz (7 goals, 5 assists), senior Adrianna White (4 goals) and sophomore Payton Bowman (3 goals). GlenOak finished 4-1-1 in the Federal League this season to tie Green for second in the league behind Jackson. GlenOak tied Green 3-3 and lost to Jackson 3-1. … Strongsville, the No. 3 seed, beat No. 5 Magnificat 1-0 in the district finals after an 11-0 rout of Lorain in the district semis. Since a 4-1 loss to reigning Division I state champion Walsh Jesuit in early September, Strongsville is 10-1-2. Its one loss in that stretch was 3-0 to Medina. The Mustangs went 1-0-1 vs. Federal League teams during the season, beating Green 1-0 early in October and tying Jackson 1-1 to open the season in August.
Hoover returns to the regional semifinals. The Vikings take on a battle-tested North Royalton team at 7 p.m. Wednesday, at Tallmadge High School. … Hoover is on a 10-game winning streak. Viking attacker Alec McLeod has one of the strongest and most accurate legs in the state. His long-range accuracy on free kicks is astonishing. Jack Streb, Ethan Jones and Logan Ash are also capable scorers for Hoover McLeod and Jones each scored two goals in the district semifinals. Ash scored the lone goal in Hoover’s 1-0 win over Lakewood in the district finals. … North Royalton enters having taken on some of the toughest teams in the state in the regular season. The No. 11-seeded Bears have strong scoring options in Kingston Loung, Michael Suhy and Grady Kramer among others.
The Louisville girls soccer team is set to make the first regional tournament appearance in school history at 7 p.m. Tuesday, at Boardman High School. The No. 22-seeded Leopards have won four games in a row and have several talented scorers, including Payton Allan, Alyssa Schillig and Reese Riley. … Bay is unbeaten and has shut out its five previous opponents. The Rockets are led by senior Tessa Knapp. Knapp has scored an astonishing 59 goals this season.
West Branch enters its regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Twinsburg Tiger Stadium having won seven consecutive contests. West Branch has shut out its last four opponents. West Branch is an extremely young team. The top three scorers are sophomores. Emma Klingensmith has nine goals, Ellie Tucker has seven goals and Alinee Bacconi has seven goals for West Branch. Sophomore goalkeeper Audrey Eaton has made 65 saves for West Branch. … Chagrin Falls has won five games in a row and has scored six goals or more in each of its last three games. Chagrin Falls has a trio of talented offensive players in Bella Radomsky (16 goals and 10 assists), Brix Niethammer (12 goals and five assists) and Mia Buno (five goals and 14 assists).
Lake Center Christian will look to keep its momentum going in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday, at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. The Tigers have not lost since suffering a setback to Marlington in their first match of the season. That included a 4-3 win over Rootstown during the regular season. … The Tigers have a high-powered offense that features four players who are in double figures in goals scored. They are Chance Klingelhofer (27), Luke Sommers (22), Macauley Baker (17) and Caleb Patrick (14). … Rootstown will counter with two 20-goal scorers in Zach Pastor (27) and Blake Postlethwait (23).
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