BOARDMAN Tears. Laughter. Smiles. The post game huddle for the Louisville girls soccer team had it all. The Leopards deserved to have that time and more. A historic season had just come to a close after a hard-fought 2-0 loss to unbeaten Bay Village in a Division III regional semifinal game at Boardman High School.
“I thought our girls hung tough,” Louisville head coach Dale Mitchell said. “They were ranked the No. 3 team in state for a reason. They were missing one of their best players but they still have quality all over the place. We tried to set them up for a counterattack with our defense but it just never quite materialized for us tonight. I couldn’t be more proud of the effort the girls gave, though.”
Bay Village used goals by Maya Holmes and Emery Aschenbrener to advance. Louisville never looked overwhelmed at any point in its first regional tournament appearance. It was clear the lights were not too bright for a program that celebrated its first district championship in school history just days ago.
“What these girls have done is really turn the page and created a culture and an expectation for us going forward,” Mitchell said. “This is where we want to be every year. We don’t want this to be the only time we make it. These girls had a really great year. They went 11-5-2. Out of those five losses, four came against teams that won district championships.”
Louisville had a mix of seniors and underclassmen on the field. The Leopards will lose seniors like Payton Allan. A strong core featuring Alyssa Schillig, Reese Riley, Gianna Kruse and Tristyn Edgein among others remains.
“We had a lot of players mature very quickly this year,” Mitchell said. “Hopefully the experience they gained with this tournament run gives them some confidence next year.”
The regional semifinal appearance caps a remarkable turnaround for the Louisville program. The Leopard tournament runs have gotten longer and longer each of the three years under Mitchell.
“I was at Marlington for nine years and decided to help out with the Mount Union men’s and women’s programs for a bit,” Mitchell said. “I started to think about making the move back to high school and this program was one I had circled. I recognized a lot of the names on the roster and I knew the work ethic they had. I thought if we could build a culture around that work ethic, we could accomplish some good things.”
It’s clear the culture Mitchell was trying to build has taken root at Louisville.
“We’ve been trying to build a sisterhood here,” Mitchell said. “We want the program to have a family type feel. We want to stay in touch with our players that have graduated and have them come back and still feel like they are a part of the program. This group exemplified what we are trying to build. They are incredibly tight knit.”
Bay Village improves to 19-0-2 and advances to the regional finals.
Here’s how the game unfolded through our live updates
Bay Village holds on for regional semifinal win over Louisville
Bay Village has defeated Louisville 2-0 in this Division III regional semifinal game. Great showing tonight by the Leopards. This was the first regional appearance in school history for Louisville. The Leopards have a lot of young players and I think the future is very bright for this group. Bay Village improves to 19-0-2. Louisville wraps up the season at 11-5-2.
Bay Village leads Louisville as game enters final stretch
Bay Village holds a 2-0 advantage over Louisville with 10 minutes to play in regulation.
Emery Aschenbrener helps Bay Village extend lead
Emery Aschenbrener extended the lead for Bay Village with a goal just before the halfway point of the second half. Aschenbrener scored with 20:10 left to play to give the Rockets a 2-0 advantage against Louisville.
Bay Village shot hits the post
Bay Village nearly extended its lead here with 33:20 to play in the second half. The Rockets had a shot attempt that went made it past the goalkeeper on a straight line but it hit the post and skipped out of bounds. Bay Village had a second shot hit the top post with 31:43 as I was typing the previous sentence. Rockets applying some serious pressure right now. It remains Bay Village 1, Louisville 0.
Second half set to begin
Bay Village will start with the ball to begin the period. The Rockets lead Louisville 1-0 here at Boardman High School.
Bay Village leads Louisville at halftime
We’ve reached the break and Bay Village holds a 1-0 lead over Louisville. The Rockets had a 5-1 edge in shots on goal. Louisville leads in corner kicks 2-1. The Leopards are hanging tough against unbeaten Bay Village. Really impressed with Louisville goalkeeper Tristyn Edgein. She has made a couple big stops on that possession after the first goal that could have extended the Bay Village lead. That sequence could loom large in the second half.
Maya Holmes helps Bay Village strike first
Bay Village is on the board here at Boardman High School. May Holmes just scored the first goal of the night on a shot with 10:48 to go in the first half. Bay Village won the faceoff and generated two more shots on goal. Tristyn Edgein made two huge stops to keep the Rockets from scoring again. As it stands, Bay Village 1, Louisville 0 with 9:31 to go in the first half.
Bay Village records first shot on goal midway through the first half
Bay Village just recorded the first shot on goal of the game. The shot was high but Tristyn Edgein was able to jump and pull the ball down in goal for Louisville. Louisville 0, Bay Village 0 with 20:08 to play in the first half.
Bay Village shot goes just wide of the net
Bay Village has the first shot of the night but it goes just wide of the net. The attempt came with 25:49 to play in the first half. Louisville 0, Bay Village 0 here at Boardman. Louisville goalkeeper Tristyn Edgein may have made the stop even if the shot was on line. Here dive toward the shot was on target.
No score between Louisville and Bay Village
The first 10 minutes have gone by and both teams appear evenly matched so far. A lot of action in the midfield but no shots on goal for either team yet. Louisville just had a corner kick moments ago but it did not lead to anything. Louisville 0, Bay Village 0 with under 30 minutes to play in the first half.
Louisville begins game with possession
Bay Village and Louisville are underway here at Boardman! Leopards kicked things off. Bay Village will have the ball first to start the second half. Louisville is playing as the away team in this regional semifinal game.
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