PORT CLINTON — The Ottawa Hills boys soccer team relentlessly attacked and controlled the vast majority of a Division III state semifinal on Wednesday, but the Green Bears ended up stunned and denied a trip to the championship game as they fell 4-2 to Columbiana Crestview.
After the Rebels took a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game, the Green Bears pressed back relentlessly before senior Will Berschback found the equalizer.
Ottawa Hills then took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Sergei Fedorov with 21:43 left in the game at True Lay Stadium. However, the Rebels scored the next three goals to advance to the title game.
“Unfortunately, it didn't bounce our way tonight,” Ottawa Hills coach Brian Hanudel said. “We had only given up 10 goals this year. But you slip on the turf, you get some unlucky bounces, and that's just the way the soccer gods looked down on us tonight. It was really unfortunate.
“But it doesn't take anything away from what these boys accomplished. They are great players. It's a quality group.”
Crestview junior Nick Novak scored two goals and had another shot that led to an Ottawa Hills own goal over the final 20:53 of the game.
“They're a really good soccer team,” Novak said. “They out-possessed us a lot. They are a better soccer team than we are. We knew that going in. But we're a very athletic team and we went off counters the entire season. We pushed it when we could.
“They move the ball really good and they have people who can finish. Playoffs is a lot of luck. We got the right bounces at the right time.”
The artificial turf at Port Clinton was tilted toward the Crestview end throughout much of the game as it was all Green Bears after they surrendered the early goal. It was the first goal Ottawa Hills had surrendered since Oct. 16. The Green Bears entered the game outscoring foes 65-10, including 24-0 in the tournament.
Ottawa Hills out-shot Crestview 6-1 in the first half with chances from Adam Ayad, Carson Mackey, and Walker Kight.
The Green Bears played more of a deliberate attack early in the second half and took a 2-1 lead on an absolute blast from Fedorov.
A terrific throw-in from Chase Lorenzen created the threat. Fedorov beat his defender one-on-one in the box and launched a laser with his right foot into the side corner of the net.
“When they went ahead early we knew we had plenty of game left and we showed that. We came back and pulled ahead,” Hanudel said. “But we weren't able to finish it off.”
Crestview scored on an Ottawa Hills' own goal when a shot by Novak tied the game at 2 with 20:53 left after the ball bounced in off a Green Bears' defender.
Novak gave the Rebels a 3-2 lead as he earned the goal after getting around an OH defender in the box and scoring down low to the corner of the net.
Crestview scored a fourth goal as the Rebels took a 4-2 lead with 6:17 left in regulation after Novak beat an Ottawa Hills defender and got the ball by Ottawa Hills keeper Truman Talbott.
Berschback had scored on a header with 6:58 left in the first half on Walker Kight's perfect cross pass.
“I think we should have had a better result tonight,” Berschback said. “That is not like us. We conceded four tonight, and we hadn't conceded any the whole tournament. But I'm so proud of my team. They're my brothers.”
Kight sent his feed from the far sideline into the box and it landed squarely on the head of Berschback, who knocked it in to tie the match at 1. Crestview keeper Sam Campbell got a hand on the header, but it went up and in the net.
Crestview scored just 3:58 into the game on a Ryan Emch header, but Berschback scored his fourth goal of the year and Kight had his seventh assist.
“The ball didn't bounce our way,” said Kight, the team's leading scorer. “It definitely stinks. We pride ourselves on playing to a certain standard and, unfortunately, we just had an off day. At the end of the day, credit to Crestview. I always think the way our team plays we can play with any team.”
The Green Bears showed no signs of panic and pushed back hard after yielding the early goal. It appeared a Crestview defender had a handball in the box that should have resulted in a Green Bears penalty kick, but it was not called near the 28-minute mark. Kight then had his bicycle kick sail just over the crossbar, and the senior followed that up with another threat as his header went over the middle bar.
Talbott was not tested much, but he came off his line to prevent a chance from the Rebels 10 minutes into the second half.
Then Novak, who has scored a whopping 57 goals this season, broke through and Crestview stole the momentum.
“You always have to be ready for that counterattack,” Hanudel said. “We did what we had to do. But momentum swung there. That nicked us. It's never fun to lose. I don't think we overlooked this game by any means. We had 80 minutes to prove what we could do. They caught us on those counters.”
Crestview (21-1-0) advances to play Grandview Heights in the state championship game on Saturday at Lower.com Field in Columbus at 1 p.m.
The Rebels were ranked No. 6 in the final poll. Novak now has 154 points for Crestview.
The Green Bears (15-3-3), who finished the regular season ranked No. 4 in the final state coaches poll, defeated Ottoville 1-0 on Saturday to win the D-III regional title.
“We accomplished a lot,” Kight said. “This year, we knew that we could get back here, but, unfortunately, we didn't get a little further.”
The Green Bears have now made six appearances in the state final four since 2008, with a runner-up finish in 2017 and state title in 2008.
Six seniors led Ottawa Hills to a 16th consecutive Toledo Area Athletic Conference title. It was the second straight season the Green Bears captured district and regional titles. Last year, the Green Bears fell 1-0 to Cardinal Mooney in the state semis.
“There are only 12 teams left in the state. To be here is an incredible feat,” said Hanudel, who is in his first year as head coach after serving as an assistant. “To do that two years in a row with these boys is even more incredible. I've been with this senior class for three years. They're my boys. I'm with them through thick and thin. I rave about how much I love this team. We have a bond, and that's going to continue on.”
First Published November 11, 2021, 2:35 a.m.
