The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Talent is talent, regardless of division
Lutheran West senior Abriana Rodin concluded the most decorated girls soccer career in Cuyahoga County history and has made a strong case for Ohio Division II Player of the Year.
In a soccer season full of great performances, teams and storylines, there is one in particular that should grab your attention.
Division II athletes sometimes don’t get the respect that a Division I athlete may get.
But ask anyone that’s competed against Lutheran West senior Abriana Rondin, and they’d tell you she’s the real deal.
Morning Journal Sports editor, Jon Behm, graduated from Lutheran West and played against her in an alumni game a few years ago and backed this claim up — adding that Rondin was not even in her prime at the time.
The Longhorns forward just concluded arguably the most decorated career ever in Cuyahoga County and has made a strong case for Ohio Division II Player of the Year.
She notched a whopping 44 goals and 14 assists for 102 points during the regular season, leading The Morning Journal coverage area.
Rondin’s accomplishments are a laundry list:
• Holds the single season (including playoffs) Lutheran West goals record (46), breaking the record she had previously set in her freshman season. That mark ranks in a tie for 15th in Ohio history with Eastern’s Sarah Koehler (2003).
• Has the four highest single season goal totals in Lutheran West history.
• Has 134 career goals, breaking the all-time Cuyahoga County scoring record of 124 set by Lori Helle of BrecksvilleBroadview Heights (198992). Rondin ranks sixth in Ohio history, tied with Vincent Warren’s Kylee Swaney (2000-03).
• Holds the Patriot Athletic Conference scoring record with 74 career goals. The prior record (53) was by Wellington’s Sam Sparks in 2013-16. Also had 25 PAC goals this season, breaking the single season PAC record of 23, set by Wellington’s Jacoby Ziegler in 2011.
• Rondin has scored or assisted on over 80 percent of her team’s goals in her career.
• Tied for seventh alltime in career goals (134) in Ohio. Tied for 18th alltime in Ohio for goals in a season (46).
• Scored six goals in a game twice.
And, needless to say, Rondin will be a strong contender for The Morning Journal girls soccer Athlete of the Year.
Due to her obvious talent, opponents man-mark Rondin every game, but it didn’t matter in the end.
Rondin’s career came to a close Oct. 15 in a Division II Elyria District sectional semifinal against Padua, but she didn’t go down quietly scoring both the Longhorns’ goals in a 4-2 loss.
One of her goals came on a 35-yard direct kick that only a few players can pull off.
This takes me back to the Division I vs. Division II comment. Yes, generally speaking it is true that the competition level in Division I is superior.
But that doesn’t mean that a Division II player’s accomplishments should get knocked.
If it was so easy to be a D-II success, then we would see more Rondin’s emerging. But we don’t. Before Rondin heads off to Division I Youngstown State University, let’s take a moment and relish what she’s done in high school.
Who knows if we will see it again.