West Branch girls in first state semifinal
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BELOIT -- West Branch’s girls soccer team made history in more ways than one when it beat Warren JFK, 1-0, on Saturday in a Div. IV regional final.
West Branch, of course, earned its first state girls soccer tournament berth in school history but also became the first Mahoning County girls team to make it to the final four.
Branch (22-0) has outscored its opponents 26-0 in the tournament so far as the team registered its 17th shutout of the season on Saturday.
It’s the second straight season the area has had a representative in the Div. IV girls soccer final four. Last season Beaver Local made its first trip to the state tournament where it lost 4-0 to Columbus Academy in Coshocton. The two teams scrimmaged right before this season started.
Today the West Branch girls soccer team will head to Heath High School to take on top-ranked Cincinnati Mariemont in the semifinals. First kick is set for 7 p.m.
Mariemont, a public school in the Cincinnati area, is also in its first state semifinal. Also nicknamed the Warriors, Mariemont (18-1-2) defeated No. 2 ranked Kettering Archbishop Alter 2-1 in its regional final on Saturday. West Branch enters the state tournament as the fourth-ranked team in Div. IV according to MaxPreps.
Mariemont has won 14 straight matches and has scored 85 goals this season while giving up 13. West Branch, meanwhile, has scored 115 goals and given up just five.
In close proximity to the strongest soccer region in the state, Mariemont’s strength of schedule rating is a 9.0 compared to West Branch’s 0.1. Mariemont’s only loss came to Hamilton Ross in a 4-0 defeat in the season opener. Ross’s only loss of the season came on Saturday in a Div. III regional final against Cincinnati Indian Hill.
Mariemont is led by University of Wisconsin recruit Addy Zawaly, a defender, who is second on the team in scoring with 13 goals. Junior Marisa Murphy is the top scorer with 17 goals. Mariemont’s two goalkeepers have only had to make 42 saves on the season.
West Branch’s scoring power comes off the foot of super sophomore Eli Colian, who has 38 goals. Caidee Schroeder is second on the team in scoring with 16 goals. Cambrie Nezbeth, who netted the game winner on Saturday, leads the team with 17 assists. Senior and two-time All-Ohioan Ellie Tucker makes everything run from her defensive midfield position as she has seven goals and 16 assists on the season.
In goal, senior Audrey Eaton has 45 saves on the season and is responsible for 16 shutouts.
The winner of this semifinal will meet the winner of No. 7 Worthington Christian, another team with the nickname Warriors, and No. 3 Liberty-Benton at noon Friday at the 20,000-seat ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, the current home of the Columbus Crew.