Girls soccer: Olentangy Liberty falls to Walsh Jesuit in state final
Friday, November 10, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Olentangy Liberty’s Lexie Mitchem (left) and Walsh Jesuit’s Madison Humenik go for the ball in the Division I state championship game Nov. 10 at Historic Crew Stadium. Photo:John Hulkenberg
For the first 15 minutes of the Division I state championship game Friday at Historic Crew Stadium, the Olentangy Liberty girls soccer team played like the “rookies” that coach Chris Allen believes most people viewed it as.
The Patriots eventually got their feet under them and turned the matchup against one of the state’s traditional powers, Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit, into a tight battle that came down to one key save at the end.
With 3 minutes, 5 seconds remaining, Liberty senior forward Chloe Brecht smashed one toward the net, but Warriors goalie Adri Lika dove for it and knocked the attempt away to preserve what became a 2-1 victory.
“It’s been a great season for us,” said Allen, who completed his third season as Liberty’s coach. “Going into halftime, the big thing was controlling our emotions. We were on a big stage and had never been here before. Everything we did to get us to this point is really what I tried to refocus us on from a playing perspective. We were just trying to get us to focus on the things we need to do, like being more patient, and that was big or us going into the second half.”
Olentangy Liberty’s Maria Stack kicks the ball against Walsh Jesuit in the Division I state championship game Nov. 10 at Historic Crew Stadium. Photo: John Hulkenberg
While Liberty finished 19-3-1, Walsh Jesuit finished 18-2-3.
The Warriors were just 12th in the final state poll but came away with their 11th championship overall, including their first since winning five in a row from 2012-16.
The Patriots, who were ranked 13th in final state poll, were playing in their first state final after losing in state semifinals in 2015 and ’17.
The last Central District program to win a Division I state title was Dublin Coffman in 2003, and the last area team in any division to capture a championship was DeSales in 2011 in Division II.
“My sophomore year, we made it pretty far in the tournament, making it to the regional finals, and for me, personally, that was a big reason I wanted to keep going past that,” Brecht said. “We were really upset because we knew we could have kept going farther.”
The Warriors, who were in their second state final in three seasons, made it 1-0 just seven minutes into the game when junior midfielder Hannah Pachen smashed one into the goal from 15 yards.
Then with 22:05 left in the first half, Walsh Jesuit took a 2-0 lead when Pachen took a free kick and bounced it into the left corner of the net.
Olentangy Liberty’s Amelia Sigmund (left) and Walsh Jesuit’s Lexi Pascarella race after the ball in the Division I state championship game Nov. 10, 2023 at Historic Crew Stadium. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“We talk a lot about being the first to score and how that impacts the game,” Warriors coach Javier Iriart said. “You score first, and your chances increase exponentially. The fact that we were up early, we felt pretty comfortable. We had to kind of change things up at halftime because it would give them a different look. We came away with the win.”
With 10:08 to go before halftime, Brecht took a pass from sophomore forward Avery Hilbert and shot it in from the top of the box to cut it to 2-1.
The Warriors nearly made it 3-1 with 34:50 remaining when Abby Witkiewicz kicked one into the goal, but her team was whistled for an offsides call.
“(This team) means a lot to me,” senior forward Lexie Mitchem said, holding back tears. “(Being in the state final) means a lot more opportunities for younger players and incoming players. It shows we can go further, and if we try our best, we can get really far.”
Liberty is losing 11 players to graduation.
“We have young players that are within the team, and that gives us perspective,” Allen said. “A lot of people don’t know that both of our center backs are sophomores, and we don’t give up a lot of goals. It gives us that perspective to build off of.”