High school boys soccer: Players, teams to watch in 2024

More than a handful of boys high school soccer teams from northwest Ohio have realistic aspirations of hoisting league and district championship trophies this fall.

Talent appears equally spread among the perennially strong programs.

Rivals St. John's Jesuit and St. Francis de Sales each won Division I district titles last season and met in the regional semifinals. The Titans prevailed 1-0 in overtime to advance to the regional final. St. John's then lost to eventual state champion Cleveland St. Ignatius in the regional final.

Maumee won a Division II district title and reached the regional semifinals. The Panthers also won the Northern Buckeye Conference, going 6-0 in their first season competing in the league.

In Division III, Liberty-Benton and Evergreen each won district titles. L-B then fell to Ottoville in the regional semis and Evergreen lost to Kidron Central Christian.

In northwest Ohio under realignment by the Ohio High School Athletic Association, Division I has gone from 13 teams to just three.

Anthony Wayne, Northview, St. John's, and St. Francis have moved down from D-I to D-II, leaving only Whitmer, Perrysburg, and Findlay in the top division. Clay, Southview, Springfield, and Bowling Green have all dropped from D-I to D-III.

“This is another year in which there is a ton of parity,” Anthony Wayne coach Brian Billings said.

Perrysburg won the inaugural Northern Lakes League Buckeye title with a 7-0-1 record last fall. Whitmer placed second (4-4-0) in its first year in the NLL, while Anthony Wayne (2-1-4) and Northview (3-4-1) tied for third. Findlay looks to be a strong contender in the division, as well.

Springfield (7-0-3) won the 2023 NLL Cardinal title, and the Blue Devils look to be one of the area's top teams once again. Bowling Green (7-2-1) finished second, followed by Southview (4-3-3) and Napoleon (4-4-2).

St. John's, St. Francis, and Central Catholic joined the Detroit-based Catholic High School League last fall. The Titans won the CHSL large school Central Division.

Evergreen won the school's first Northwest Ohio Athletic League title last fall.

Maumee Valley captured the Toledo Area Athletic Conference title for the first time since 2004.

Individually in Division II, Maumee forward Blake Wagener was named to the All-Ohio first team after leading the area with 54 goals. In D-III, Liberty-Benton midfielder Garrett Nealis also earned all-state honors.

According to area coaches, other top local players include St. Francis senior Josh Brennan, Springfield junior Aiden Sloan, St. John's senior Adam Kashk, Anthony Wayne senior Trace Davis, Northview senior Hutch Saggesse, and Perrysburg junior Chase Jeansonne.

TEAMS TO WATCH

■ St. John's: The Titans (15-3-4 in 2023) look to make another deep tournament run under coach Claudio Cabrera. St. John's, which is undefeated (5-0) to start the season, has four starters back.

Seniors Adam Kashk (defender), Ben Rashid (midfielder), Tiernan Loise (forward), and Walid Abdelwahed (midfielder) will be key contributors along with juniors Charlie Case (forward) and George Dewood (forward).

St. John's won the Ohio Jesuit Cup, which features state powers Cleveland St. Ignatius, Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit, and Cincinnati St. Xavier, last month.

Cabrera said the Titans are a balanced team with a strong defense and the ability to create scoring opportunities. He also said the group is very resilient.

“We believe this is our year to win states in Division II,” Cabrera said. “We are confident we have a roster capable to compete in the state final four. We need to keep believing in ourselves, keep working on little details, discipline, commitment, and focus.”

■ St. Francis: The Knights were 10-7-3 last fall and are currently 2-0-2. Coach Mike Kern has seven starters back.

Senior midfielder Josh Brennan earned All-CHSL second-team honors, while seniors Ben Baker (goalkeeper), senior midfielder Jacob Hoffman, senior defender Owen Little, and junior forward Drew Puckett each earned third-team all-league honors.

Kern said his goalkeeping keeps the Knights in every game and elevates their level of play. He said keeping their defensive shape, valuing possession, and creating dynamic opportunities to score are other strengths.

The Knights, who have won three straight district titles, hope to advance to the state final four for the first time since 2003 when they finished second.

“We have solid leadership,” Kern said. “We need to unify our culture to create a bond stronger than previous years. We're focusing on building good momentum through training and game results.”

■ Anthony Wayne: Last year, the Generals went 6-10-4 while navigating a tough schedule and are off to a 3-1-1 start.

Billings has seven starters back led by senior center-midfielder Trace Davis, junior forward Brody Sutto, and senior forward Cian Flagg. Juniors Isaak Stachowiak and Austin Roudebush also will be key contributors.

Billings said AW has looked fast and has been good on set pieces, accompanied by a high compete level.

“We want to win the NLL Buckeye Division and figure out this new division setup,” Billings said. “We have to stop letting in goals off individual errors and improve our scoring rate.”

■ Perrysburg: The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 16-2-2 season and are 0-1-1 in the early going.

Coach Dennis Jeansonne has only five returning starters and lost 75 percent of his scoring from last year.

Chase Jeansonne, a midfielder, and senior midfielder Dylan Motter each earned All-NLL second-team honors. Junior defender Evan Keller, junior striker Brayden Heitmeyer, and senior midfielder Omar Touray also are top returning players.

Jeansonne said the team's main strength is its ability to keep possession through passing and movement off the ball.

“We're able to limit our opposition's opportunities on goal by controlling the ball and the game,” he said. “Our goals are to repeat as NLL champs and earn that district title we've missed the past few years. We'd need to begin scoring goals to make that happen. Our success includes coming together as a team and begin playing for each other. We'll need to score the opportunities we're getting.”

■ Northview: First-year Wildcats coach Chris Black inherits a team that went 8-6-3 last year. Northview is off to a 2-1-1 start this year.

Black said his top players include senior forward Bruno Lopes, junior center back JJ Ortega, junior midfielder Brayden Sutton, senior goalkeeper Hutch Saggesse, sophomore midfielder Tyler Barron, and senior Danny Bushrow.

“We have a lot of talent here,” Black said. “We can attack in a lot of different ways. We have a lot of depth as players get the opportunity to step up.”

Black said his team's goals are win an NLL Buckeye title and a district title.

“We want to set a solid foundation for the future,” he said. “We are working on our mentality in and around the game, learning how to manage highs and lows.”

■ Springfield : The Blue Devils (9-3-6) are off to a 3-1-2 start.

Coach Adam Sloan has four returning starters back. Junior Aiden Sloan was the NLL Cardinal Division player of the year and a member of the all-district first team. Junior midfielder Kyle Mortus earned All-NLL first-team honors, while senior goalkeeper Cole Murphy was named to the all-league second team. Seniors Bryce Steinmiller (midfielder) and Yvan Tan (defender) also are key players.

“Our strength is the ability to defend during the run of play,” Sloan said. “The boys do a good job anticipating and keeping shape. Our ability to win a league trophy for the first time in school history has made the boys turn their eyes toward the tournament. They are very much focused on a district title.”

■ Liberty-Benton: The Eagles (5-0-0 this season) went 13-5-3 last season and won a Division III district championship,

Senior midfielder Garrett Nealis earned all-district first team and all-state second team. Senior defender Will Niese (second-team all-district), senior attacker Trevor Ferris (honorable mention all-district), junior attacker Aiden Hatch, and sophomore attacker Jairo Colina are among eight returning starters and 14 total letter winners.

“Our strengths are our ability to possess the ball and be patient to attack and our size defensively,” L-B coach Aaron Troyer said. “We are fast, physical, and skilled. Our goal is to win the D-IV regional and advance to state for the first time in program history.”

■ Maumee : The Panthers are coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history (19-1-1). Maumee is 5-0-0 this year, outscoring opponents 54-3.

Blake Wagner scored 54 goals last season, while junior midfielder Noah Preciado had 17. Junior midfielder Jaxson Greenlese is another top scorer while seniors William Boyles and Bradyn Saneholtz are top defenders.

Maumee coach Chad Kain said his team's strength is its firepower.

“We can score goals,” he said. “Our goals are to win the NBC, the district title, and get to states.”

■ Bowling Green: Coach Josh Fox led the Bobcats (3-0-0 this season) to a 13-6-1 record last season. BG's goals are to win the NLL Cardinal Division and make another deep tournament run, Fox said.

The team's top returning players include senior forward Tomas Meek (All-NLL first team) and senior forward Luca Brininger (All-NLL first team).

“Even though we lost a large senior class, we bring back a lot of experienced players who have been in the program for three to four years now,” Fox said. “With that experience, a lot of players have good tactical knowledge. I'm hoping we can avoid some peaks and valleys. I'm hoping we can find our way through it and maintain some early momentum we've built so far.”