The show must go on for three teams within the Chagrin Valley Conference.
Beachwood’s and Wickliffe’s boys’ soccer teams won district titles on Saturday while Independence’s volleyball team won its sixth consecutive district championship.
The Bison hand their hands full with a Kirtland team seeking to avenge a 4-1 loss to Beachwood three weeks ago.
Neither team managed to find the back of the net in 80 minutes of regulation nor either of the two 15-minute golden goal overtime periods. That forced the game to be decided by a shootout.
The game remained tied after the five players from each team converted on their penalty kick attempts, which forced a second round of PKs in a sudden-death format.
The Bison went 2-for-2 in the second round while Kirtland made its first and missed its second to send Beachwood to the Division III regional tournament.
Beachwood will play Creston Norwayne in a regional semifinal on Nov. 2 at 7:00 p.m. on the blue turf at Ravenna. Norwayne advanced to the regional tournament with a 4-0 win over Berkshire.
With a win, the Bison could see CVC rival Wickliffe, who advanced to the regional tournament with a 4-1 win over Kinsman Badger.
“We had a gauntlet of a draw with three extremely difficult games to get to this point and I couldn’t be more proud,” said Wickliffe coach Dominik Severino. “It was a gutsy first half where I was happy to get to the break 1-1, and then we really started to settle in the second half and secured the momentum.”
Badger struck first with a goal off of a set piece, which only served as a temporary setback for the Blue Devils.
Shane Williams, Colin Casey, Kevin Byrne, and Noah Telisman all went on to score goals for Wickliffe to seal its second district championship in school history.
“They put us on our heels scoring about one minute into the game of a set piece blunder,” Severino said. “We have worked hard mentally to start games strong and I think that knocked us back a bit. I was proud of the mental toughness to come out in the second half and really start to play our style. Once Colin and Shane started getting some balls in space good things started happening.”
Casey assisted on a pair of goals and Telisman and Kurt Boegert each had one assist.
Byrne’s goal early in the second half gave the Blue Devils a 2-1 lead and they never looked back.
“We got a goal somewhat early in the second half from Kevin Byrne on a long throw from Colin Casey,” Severino said. “I think that officially turned the game in our favor. That goal really allowed our guys to settle in and start pressing forward with some purpose. Our back four was almost impenetrable in the second half. Their composure really allowed us to move forward offensively.”
Anthony Shaw recorded four saves in the win, which boosted Wickliffe’s record to 16-4.
“This is our second district title in school history and these boys deserve this moment,” Severino said. “We have a lot of silver in that trophy case in the school and we have spoken a lot about changing that. Not only did we do that, but these guys made it count. We had to go through some tough games to get here. I know I sound like a broken record but I couldn’t be more proud of this group of young men writing their own story, I’m just happy being along for the ride.”
The Blue Devils will play Youngstown Cardinal Mooney in the regional semifinals at Boardman High School on Nov. 2 at 6:00 p.m.
Independence’s volleyball team cruised to its sixth straight district title with a 3-0 win over Chippewa at Elyria Catholic.
After a challenging district semifinal earlier in the week—a 3-1 win over Wooster Triway—the Blue Devils dominated the Chipps, 25-22, 25-14, 25-12.
The Blue Devils advanced to the Barberton Regional where they will play Applecreek Waynedale at 7:30 on Nov. 3.
Other CVC scores:
Boys Soccer
- Poland 2, Harvey 1
- Norwayne 4, Berkshire 0
Volleyball
- Lake Catholic 3, Berkshire 0
- Crestview 3, Kirtland 1
