Dublin Jerome returns to state title game with win over St. Ignatius
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Dublin Jerome’s Brady Sestili shoots against St. Ignatius during a Division I state semifinal May 31 at Ashland University. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Coach Andy Asmo stood on the sideline in his patented flip flops as his Dublin Jerome boys lacrosse team trailing Cleveland St. Ignatius by a goal after one quarter and wasn’t fazed.
After all, Celtics junior midfielder Seth Siddell was having success on the draw and junior goalie Cory Lorentzen came through with a couple of key saves.
Then, the Jerome offense came alive with seven goals and cruised to a 16-7 win over the Wildcats in a Division I state semifinal on May 31 at Ashland University’s Jack Miller Stadium.
“It’s just his thing,” senior attacker Marek Tzagournis said. “He’s been doing it forever. I think he’s kind of trademarked it. We all love it.”
The Celtics, who return to the state final for the third consecutive season, play Cincinnati St. Xavier for a state championship on June 3 at Historic Crew Stadium.
“I’m comfortable,” Asmo said. “We have senior leaders that do a heck of a job and the whole coaching staff did a great job in the game plan. We knew that we were going to win face offs and if we did that, we were comfortable with what we were going to do.
“When you have so many great senior leaders who are (going) to their third state championship in a row – you don’t stress when you’re down 1-0 at the end of the first quarter.”
Dublin Jerome’s Cael Haqq shoots against St. Ignatius during a Division I state semifinal May 31 at Ashland University. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Junior midfielder Kyle White scored the game-tying goal with 9:10 remaining in the first half. Then, Siddell won the face-off and scored seven seconds later to give the Celtics (21-1) a 2-1 lead and they never trailed again.
Siddell went 15 of 21 on faceoffs and added eight ground balls to lead Jerome.
Lorentzen had four saves in the opening period and finished with 10 overall for Jerome.
“There’s always pressure coming (because) everyone gives us their best shot,” he said. “I really try not to think about the pressure. I just try to go in there and do my best to try and stop the ball.
“I think I really (was) extra prepared for this game because it was a big game. I just came into this one knowing that I’d have to play my best to win.”
Senior attacker Carder Undercott scored five goals and had seven ground balls, Tzagournis had two goals and four assists and White had three goals and two assists to lead the Celtics, who also defeated the Wildcats 16-9 on April 1.
Dublin Jerome’s Kyle White shoots against St. Ignatius during a Division I state semifinal May 31 at Ashland University. Photo: John Hulkenberg
“We knew we were playing well (in the first period),” Tzagournis said. “We got a lot of shots off, just none of them were falling. I think we all knew they were going to start to fall and just stuck to our game plan.”
Senior attacker Mitch Rini, who scored with 2:09 left in the first quarter to give the Wildcats (14-8) a 1-0 lead, finished with three goals and sophomore goalie Freddy Webster stopped 13 shots in goal, including six in the second period.
“Just seeing one go in the back of the net, everyone gets a lot of confidence,” Tzagournis said. “We get streaky sometimes. Once we see one go in, we put multiple in. That’s what we feed off of.”