As the stage gets brighter, St. Xavier just continues to rise to the occasion and shine.
Senior Alex Lefker punched in a game-winning header off a rebound in the 77th minute, elevating his St. Xavier Bombers to a 2-1 victory over Mason in the OHSAA Division I Region Four semifinal at Lakota East High School Wednesday night.
“You’re in the Round of 16, every team’s going to be outstanding. Mason’s a quality team,” St. Xavier varsity boys soccer coach Brian Schaeper said of his team’s victory. “The cliché – you survive and advance. . . They’re a good team. They played really hard tonight and put us under a lot of pressure.”
The Bombers came out aggressively early, and their aggressiveness paid immediate dividends. Senior Rylan Earl recovered a rebound off the crossbar and quickly struck back net for the opening goal, putting the Bombers ahead 1-0 in the fourth minute.
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As the game ensued, Mason found its legs and amped the intensity against an aggressive Bomber defense. Though the Comets failed to score on a handful of shot attempts in the waning minutes of the first half, you could feel the pendulum of momentum swinging.
Just minutes out of the half, senior Levi Kelly took advantage after St. Xavier junior goalie Luke Eckert batted away a shot attempt by a Mason Striker, which found its way to Kelly’s leg. Kelly punched in the game-tying goal, giving his Comets a fighting chance and setting the stage for a second-half nail-biter.
Fortunately for St. Xavier, this wasn’t exactly unfamiliar territory. The Bombers – fresh off of a dramatic victory in penalty kicks over Beavercreek in the district title game – have become accustomed to such pressure situations and much like their district championship contest, didn’t become overwhelmed by Mason’s surge.
“We got an early goal, that seemed to fire them up, I think, a little bit,” Schaeper said. “They came hard. A lot of the second half, we had some quality chances, but we survived a lot of their possession. In the second half I feel like the fatigue (factored in) a little bit because we were able to find a little more space in the possession. . . As the second half went on, we just found more of those moments. Ultimately a lot of these comes from heart.”
Both teams had a number of appetizing scoring opportunities in the second half, as they continued to absorb each other’s best shots. But St. Xavier began shifting momentum back in their favor and possessed the ball incredibly well.
Perhaps Mason’s best opportunity since their early minute goal came on a narrowly missed shot by Mason senior Kevin Ren, who drew an unlucky bounce just within the inner half of left the goalpost – then ricocheting out in the 69th minute.
A few minutes later, St. Xavier failed to take advantage of an open goal chance. Bomber senior Pat Ahrens drew Mason goalie Zach Cochran up for a sliding stop on a shot attempt, which Cochran deflected to Bomber senior Tanner Creech. Aware of the open goal and opportunity, Mason’s defense adjusted to protect the goal until Cochran could find his way back to the goal, and the Comets escaped scathe free after a scare.
Shortly thereafter, the Bombers wouldn’t miss on such an opportunity again. Lefker followed the miss after another deflection by Cochran, striking into the back of the net and sending the Bomber team into a frenzy on the field for the go-ahead goal in the 77th minute.
“We got another transition moment up, were able to get them out of sorts a bit,” Schaeper said. “The service in, I thought we got fouled on it. The (Mason) keeper made a good challenge, took our player with him, but we didn’t stop on that and took the moment that came. We had another empty moment that didn’t fall that way, so it was good to get that back.”
Suddenly facing the brink of elimination, Mason attempted to push the ball downfield, but failed to get many cracks at the goal. Their last best chance came as time expired, though the Comets failed to punch in a header on a corner kick as the clock read zeroes.
Both teams ended rather even, with the Comets (12-2-3) hoisting 18 shots to the Bombers’ 17.
Now, St. Xavier advances onto the regional final, where they’ll face a familiar foe – Centerville. The Elks (17-1-1) defeated the Bombers (13-2-5) 4-1 in a regular contest between the two schools on Oct. 2 in Centerville. Now, however, the two teams will meet on a neutral site with some hardware on the line. But Schaeper knows just how challenging the contest will be for his group.
“All year long, we’re going to play the best in the city and the best in the state so we’re ready for these moments,” Schaeper said. “We’ve played Mason, we’ve played Centerville and Anderson – both quality teams who are around for a reason. (They’ll be) a formidable and quality opponent. I’m not mad hearing they had to go a little extra like we had to, but yeah, that’s going to be a challenge for us.”
The two schools will play on Saturday with the OHSAA Region Four championship on the line. The time and location will be announced this week.
St. Xavier – 1 1 – 2
Mason – 0 1 – 1
Goals: St. X: Earl (1) 4’; Lefker (1) 77’.
Mason: Kelly (1) 42’.
Saves: St. X: Eckert (9).
Mason: Cochran (6).
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