The 2016 season did not quite end the way the Saint Ignatius lacrosse team wanted. The Wildcats reached the State Lacrosse Championship for the first time ever, but ended up falling to Ohio powerhouse, Upper Arlington, 17-5. The Wildcats finished the season with a 16-3 record.
Even though it was a tough loss, the season proved to everyone that the Saint Ignatius lacrosse program was headed in the right direction. In 2017, we now have full proof.
The Wildcats have made it back to the State Final Four, and are one win away from possibly setting a date once again with the Golden Bears from Upper Arlington in the first year of an OHSAA-sanctioned State Tournament.
Saint Ignatius faced a lot of adversity and proved a lot of haters wrong in reaching the State Semifinal. The Lax Cats first knocked off a tough team in the Hudson Explorers, 12-4. Hudson has been a program trying to be on the rise in years past, even defeating the Wildcats earlier in the season. This year it was Michael Boehm, Nate Conry, Grayson Gerard, and Brent Chernosky providing multiple goals for the Wildcats in the victory. The defense in that game was spectacular at Hudson Memorial Stadium.
That win was a huge momentum boost and confidence builder the Wildcats needed in what has been a rollercoaster ride of a season. At one points this season, the Wildcats dropped three in a row to Hudson, 8-4, Upper Arlington in overtime, 8-7, and University School, 7-6. Then, the Wildcats went on the road and suffered tough defeats to St. Xavier, 9-2, and Western Reserve Academy, 10-3.
But then came this past Saturday afternoon in Wooster. The Wildcats went up against Region 2’s top-seeded team in the Hoover Vikings, who entered the game on an 8-game win streak. However, the Vikings had not played as tough a schedule that the Wildcats had played. The toughest games they played came against Saint Ignatius and Hudson, losing to the Wildcats 7-3, and defeating the Explorers 12-11. But still, Hoover were not to be taken lightly.
The Wildcats got out to a hot start, with Nate Conry putting two in quickly and Chernosky, the Bellarmine recruit, adding another, to give Saint Ignatius a 3-0 lead early. But back came Hoover with three power play goals to tie the ballgame up. At halftime, the ‘Cats were up 5-3, and that lead would not evaporate. Michael Boehm notched two third period goals to complete a hat trick, and Conry and Chernosky would strike as well. The Wildcats went on to end the Vikings’ season, 12-6.
In the two wins, the Saint Ignatius’ offense picked up the pace, moving the ball around better than we have seen this year. The Wildcats are also striking from far out, especially freshman and Michigan recruit Michael Boehm. In addition, the Wildcats’ defense is starting to place pressure on these opponents’ offenses known for lighting up the scoreboard. Goalie Carter Blossey has been a wall in the net, leading the defense.
That being said, the Wildcats will have to play well on both ends as they look to knock off the Olentangy Liberty Patriots in the State Semifinal on Wednesday at Wooster High School. Last season, the Wildcats defeated the Patriots in the Regional Final, 6-4. That game saw mostly seniors from the Class of 2016 take over on offense, as Lax Cats snuck past Liberty. However, the Patriots were led by a lot of underclassmen, including then-sophomore midfielder Johnny Wiseman. Now a junior, Wiseman has picked up his game this year since scoring two goals in that game. Senior midfielder Griffin Hughes and senior attack Vincent Ramondelli also headline a strong Patriots’ squad.
Other key players for Liberty to watch out for will be Kyle Zenkewicz, who provides great defensive skills for the Patriots, who enter at 16-5. The Patriots have had close wins throughout the season, such as an 8-7 overtime victory over Hudson, and a 9-8 win over Dublin Coffman, who lost by one goal in the Region 3 Final to Upper Arlington, 12-11. Yet, the Patriots have some significant losses on their resume as well. Olentangy Liberty fell to two schools from Pennsylvania, Penn Charter and Academy New Church. The Patriots also fell to Upper Arlington, 6-4, and St. Xavier, 13-6.
The Patriots will be tough to handle for the Wildcats, but not as tough as the other two State Semifinalists on the other side of the bracket. Archbishop Moeller and Upper Arlington battle on Wednesday night at Chaminade-Julienne High School. Saint Ignatius has lost to both teams this season, and this matchup could end up being the more competitive State Semifinal game. Archbishop Moeller knocked off Region 4 top-seed St. Xavier, 10-7. The Crusaders were able to hold off two St. Xavier comebacks to prevail for their 15th win of the season. Star senior Cory Lockwood finished with four goals for Archbishop Moeller, nothing new for fans of the Crusaders.
The Wildcats were handed their first loss of the season from Archbishop Moeller, 8-7, as the Crusaders jumped out to a large lead early, and did not look back. Brent Chernosky netted two goals for the Lax Cats in their attempted comeback, while six different Wildcats scored as well.
The defending State Champions and No. 4 in the Midwest, the Upper Arlington Golden Bears, did not have it easy advancing to the Final Four. They escaped a scare from Dublin Coffman, winning 12-11 in their Regional Final.
Senior attack Jack Dolan scored four goals in the win over the Shamrocks, while Matt Marsh completed a hat trick to lead Upper Arlington. Dolan also had three goals in the State Championship last season versus the Wildcats.
But in their first year under the direction of Kyle Olson, replacing longtime head coach of 25 years Ted Wolford (who retired last summer), a potential rematch of last year’s state title game could be a lot closer than the 17-5 win for the Golden Bears last year.
Back on April 28, the Wildcats took Upper Arlington into overtime on Wasmer Field. Despite losing 8-7 in extra time, the Wildcats proved that they can hang with the 16-time State Champion Golden Bears. Anthony Ameo, Kyle Katigbak, Michael Boehm, Bain Kurtz, Grayson Gerard, and Connor McGowan all scored for the Wildcats in one of their best games of the season.
This year’s Upper Arlington team is not one to fool around with. The Golden Bears’ only two losses have actually come against Coffman and Moeller, which speaks a lot of how resilient they really are. UA has defeated St. Xavier, Western Reserve Academy, Olentangy Liberty, Dublin Jerome, The Kiski School, and Worthington Kilbourne, all tough lacrosse programs this season. Don’t be surprised if the Golden Bears are able to comeback and defeat Moeller in the game that counts.
But until then, you really couldn’t ask for a better final four teams to compete in the inaugural OHSAA State Lacrosse Tournament. Two familiar faces in the Wildcats and Golden Bears, and two newcomers in the Patriots and Crusaders. All four will battle it out on Wednesday night to decide who will be playing for the championship trophy come this Saturday at Selby Stadium on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University.