Sidelines: Ottawa Hills first NW Ohio team to win state soccer title

Ottawa Hills players celebrate with their fans after a 1-0 victory over Worthington Christian in Columbus gave the Green Bears the Division III state soccer title. PHIL LONG Enlarge

Ottawa Hills became the first school from northwest Ohio to win a state soccer title when it claimed a 1-0 victory over Worthington Christian in the Division III championship at Columbus Crew Stadium.

The Green Bears outscored tournament opponents 26-1 and posted a shutout in all but one of the seven games.

The Anthony Wayne boys fell just one game short of the Division I title contest, losing to eventual champion Cleveland St. Ignatius in the state semifinals.

The Generals shared the Northern Lakes League title with Northview as the two teams tied during the regular season. The district title game between the two teams also was tied before AW won in a shootout.

But no school could match the soccer success enjoyed by Lake, which saw both its boys and girls teams advance to the regionals. The boys pushed to the Division III regional final before losing to Ottawa Hills, while the girls reached the regional semifinals in Division II before bowing to Liberty-Benton, which then lost to eventual state runner-up Akron Hoban.

The school that came closest to matching Lake s success was Northview, which saw its boys team reach the district final and its girls team reach the Division I regional final before losing to eventual state runner-up Strongsville.