Twinsburg boys soccer wins first regional title, Columbus DeSales next
The Twinsburg boys soccer team will play in 1st first state semifinal after beating Revere High School in a Division III, Region 9 final, DeSales next.
COLUMBUS — The Twinsburg boys soccer team broke through this season with its first state final appearance. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they’ll have to wait at least another season for their first state title.
Cincinnati Indian Hill made sure of that with a 1-0 win to take the Division III championship on Sunday.
Like the school’s baseball team in the spring, the Tigers (21-3) finished runner-up, which is a gigantic accomplishment in its own right.
“It starts with these guys as players,” Twinsburg coach Mike Lally said. “These guys come into camps so the younger guys know who they are. Both the boys and girls teams support each other tremendously in the school. That helps a lot.
“The other part is that Twinsburg is a pretty tight school. It’s a special place to be for students and teachers. They support each other. For a school our size to be in the baseball state championship. and soccer state championships tells you the quality type of kid we have at Twinsburg.”
It’s the first state title for the Braves (23-0-2), who had runner-up finishes in 1986 and 1987.
Indian Hill was afforded that luxury with a goal near the start of the second half.
Zohaib Kalloo put a ball on the foot of Aiden Faber at the top of the box on the right and the senior beat his man to the touch line on the dribble. He crossed the ball in front of the goal mouth to Max Grebe. Grebe one-touched it into an empty net with 33:15 to play.
Indian Hill’s win happened in large part to a Braves defense that didn’t allow a shot on frame. It marked the 14th shutout for Indian Hill, which allow a just three goals in the postseason.
“We’ve had some great teams in the past,” Lally said. “It’s been hard for these guys to break through. When we saw these guys in June, we knew we had something special. It was getting them to realize that potential. The thing I’m most excited about with these guys is the work they put in to get better throughout the course of the year.”
Here’s how the game unfolded through our live updates:
Twinsburg is pressuring more but hasn’t been able to crack an Indian Hill defense has allowed only three goals this postseason. While the Tigers are getting into the offensive third more there still hasn’t been a shot on frame. It’s 1-0 Indian Hill with 18:41 left.
Zohaib Kalloo put a ball on the foot of Aiden Faber at the top of the box on the right and the senior beat his man to the touch line on the dribble. He crossed the ball in front of the goal mouth to Max Grebe. Grebe one-touched it into an empty net.
It’s 1-0 Braves over the Tigers with 33:15 left.
The Tigers switched from a 4-3-3- to a 3-5-2 to a 5-3-2 midway through the first half and it alleviated some of the pressure off the backline. Indian Hill immediately moved its center forward to an attacking midfielder.
While Indian Hill has put 12 shots at the goal, only two have been on frame. We’re still scoreless at the break.
| Category | Indian Hill | Twinsburg |
| Shots on goal | 2 | 0 |
| Saves | Swallow (0) | Goodman (2) |
| Corner kicks | 2 | 2 |
The Braves have 11 shots at goal on two shots on goal to Twinsburg’s two shots at goal with 8:02 remaining. It’s been a credit to Twinsburg’s backline and keeper Cooper Goodman that it remains scoreless to the point. Just phenomenal defense being shown by the Tigers.
It’s easy to see why the Braves average 4.3 goals per game. The ball has constantly been in Twinsburg’s defensive third for the first 20 minutes. While it hasn’t produced a goal, it’s putting stress on the backline.
Indian Hill’s Connor Wilkes took a free kick from 20 yards out in the middle and peppered the left side of the goal, but Cooper Goodman was able to get a mitt on it to keep it out of net. It’s Indian Hill 0, Twinsburg 0 with 32:26 to go in the first half.
| Number | Name | Position |
| 00 | Alex Swallow | GK |
| 2 | Ernesto Rodriguez-Cayro | D |
| 3 | Nate Bunkowske | D |
| 4 | Carter Cushman | D |
| 5 | Christian Mangano | D |
| 6 | Liam Brady | M |
| 7 | Mac Cantwell | M |
| 8 | Brady Evans | M |
| 10 | Connor Wilkes | M |
| 11 | Aiden Faber | F |
| 14 | Max Grebe | M |
| Number | Starting lineup | Position |
| 1 | Cooper Goodman | GK |
| 2 | Ryan Humbereson | M |
| 3 | Gavin Varnum | D |
| 4 | Nate Grant | D |
| 6 | Theodore Goodman | D |
| 7 | Lucas Elias | M |
| 8 | Mario Sanders | M |
| 9 | Alec Utrup | F |
| 10 | Devin Couch | F |
| 24 | Keelin Fuentes | M |
| 25 | Evan Schneeeman | M |
OHSAA State final history for Twinsburg and Indian Hill
As stated above, Twinsburg is playing in its first championship.
Indian Hill is playing in its third title game. It’s been a while for the Braves. They haven’t been to a championship since 1987. The Braves finished second in 1986-87.
Twinsburg players to watch
Devin Couch (13 goals, eight assists), Evan Schneeman (11 goals, seven assists), Lucas Elias (nine, 19 assists), Mario Sanders (six goals, five assists), are the players to watch.
Keelin Fuentes (five goals, four assists) and Alec Utrup (four goals, four assists) are ones to pay attention to as well.
Indian Hill players to watch
Indian Hill is led by Connor Wilkes (39 goals, 24 assists) and Aiden Faber (22 goals, 19 assists).
Max Grebe (eight goals, four assists), Zohaib Kalloo (seven goals, eight assists) and Liam Brady (seven goals, seven assists) are scoring options as well.
Twinsburg OHSAA postseason results
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| Oct. 19 | Brush | W, 7-0 |
| Oct. 24 | Padua | W, 1-0 |
| Oct. 28 | Rocky River | W, 2-0 |
| Oct. 30 | University School | W, 2-0 |
| Nov. 3 | Revere | W, 3-0 |
| Nov. 6 | Columbus DeSales | W, 1-0 |
Indian Hill OHSAA postseason results
| Date | Opponent | Result |
| Oct. 15 | Western Brown | W, 9-0 |
| Oct. 19 | Edgewood | W, 8-0 |
| Oct. 22 | Cincinnati LaSalle | W, 5-1 |
| Oct. 26 | Tippecanoe | W, 2-0 |
| Oct. 30 | Maumee | W, 5-0 |
| Nov. 3 | Dayton Carroll | W, 3-1 |
| Nov. 6 | Shawnee | W, 4-2 |
Contact Brad Bournival at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @bbournival.
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