Olentangy girls fall in state soccer final
Strongsville had 15 shots on goal to three for Olentangy on the way to a 3-1 victory in the Division I girls soccer state championship game Friday at Mapfre Stadium.
Senior goalie Katie Scott made 12 saves for Olentangy (18-3-2), which was competing in its first state tournament. Abby Kulda, a freshman, stopped two shots as the Mustangs finished 20-0 to win their fifth championship and first since 2011.
“They played a lot of aerial balls and did a much better job of winning those balls before we did. That allowed them to move the ball up the field and put us under pressure,” Olentangy coach Earl Devanny told Thisweek Newspapers.
Shelby Sallee gave Strongsville a 1-0 lead 6 minutes, 22 seconds in off a rebound. Olentangy tied it with 23:35 left in the first half when Lexi White fired a shot into the top of the net off an assist from Kylee Beinecke.
“We used the width (of the field) to get behind them,” Devanny said of White's goal. “We weren't as good at doing that in the second half.”
The Mustangs took the lead for good with 1:35 left in the half when Taylor Demmerle tapped in a goal off her left foot, and they added insurance with 15:31 to play when Coley Sidloski scored from 20 yards into the left corner of the net.
DIVISION II GIRLS: Granville outshot Mansfield Madison 13-4, including 9-1 in the second half, but fell to the Rams 2-1 in the Division II title game. Madison goalkeeper Paige Eldridge made two huge saves down the stretch.
"It's really frustrating, to dominate a game like we did, and to not come out on top," Granville coach Scott Forster told the Newark Advocate after the Blue Aces finished as state runner-up for the third time. "To win a state title, you have to have a good amount of luck, have some bounces go your way. They were fortunate, and they cashed in."