BELLBROOK, Ohio – Mariemont High School lacrosse players and fans might be seeing No. 17 Will Jordan of Columbus St. Francis DeSales in their sleep for a few nights.
After tying Columbus St. Francis DeSales late in the opening period, Mariemont could never gain the lead and eventually lost in their Division II state boys lacrosse semifinal,14-8.
The Achilles heel for Mariemont all night came on face-offs, which were won by the DeSales midfielder with regularity. While he didn't score, he was the most important player on the field. The Stallions controlled the tempo of the game by controlling the ball.
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"They dominated face-offs," Mariemont coach Steve Peterson said. "We scored on just about every offensive possession, but we didn't have the ball. You can't win if you don't have the ball."
David Chintala scored four goals for DeSales while Jackson Carawan and Ty Hampton had three apiece. In their final games for the Warriors, Max Tepe scored four times and Boden Gall twice.
"They did what they could," Peterson said. "Everyone played hard. They just came up short this year. You can't win it every year. We didn't have our best game, but that's how it goes sometimes."
Like their regional final against CHCA, Mariemont found themselves down after a quarter, 5-3. Unlike the previous week, Mariemont still trailed at the half, 7-4 as they struggled to get possessions.
By late in the third quarter, Mariemont was down 10-5, their biggest deficit since an April 27 loss to Division I Moeller 10-5.
The Stallions would pad the lead in the fourth frame, increasing the advantage to as much as seven and eventually winning by six. Jordan continued his mastery at the 50-yard line as the sun set on Mariemont's chances.
"That's what happens when you run into a good face-off guy," Peterson said. "We didn't play our best game all-around, but we lost to a better team and I wish them best of luck in the state finals."
The Warriors have now made the state semifinals 11 times (including a club season in 2000). A sixth state championship will have to wait though as they finish their season 17-3. It was just the fourth time this season they scored less than 10 points in a game and three of those were defeats.
Outside of Tuesday's state semi, Mariemont's only losses came to Moeller and Elder out of the Greater Catholic League-South.
Columbus St. Francis DeSales now plays Chagrin Falls at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 4, at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus for the Division II title.
Mariemont defeated Chagrin Falls 12-9 in last year's championship and lost to them 10-4 in the final in 2019. DeSales lost to Chagrin Falls 10-9 back on April 2.
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