Boys soccer team hopes a third trip to the state finals will be the charm.
It’s been almost a year, but senior Ethan Carrel still can’t figure out what went wrong in the Worthington Christian boys soccer team’s 1-0 double overtime loss to Warsaw River View in the Division IV state championship game. The Warriors outshot, outpossessed, and outplayed the Black Bears on Nov. 11 in Historic Crew Stadium. Yet, River View ended the game with two things Worthington Christian didn’t have: a goal and a state title.
“To be honest, it still haunts me to this day,” said Carrel, whose team outshot River View 32-11. “We thought that was a game we could have won. We feel like we left something on the field.”
To make matters worse, it marked the second time in as many years that the Warriors were saddled with the silver medal around their necks after losing by one goal. In 2023, Worthington Christian lost to Willoughby Andrews Osbourne 2-1 in the Division III state final.
Coach Dan Roads, whose team opened the year against Mansfield Christian on Aug. 16, said his team is looking for a way to fill that hole.
“Not getting the chance to have the championship trophy in your hand motivates all the boys,” Roads said. “We have quite a few guys who were on the state tournament roster, and they’re eager to get back there. They have a bit of a sour taste in their mouths.”
To return to the state final, the Warriors must find replacements for the seven players who provided a total of 27 goals and 13 assists with the graduation of Tom Espenschied (one goal, one assist), Eli Funderburke (eight goals, six assists), and Cyrus Nip (one goal, one assist) as forwards; Nate Erwin (three goals, one assist) and Baden Wood (13 goals, four assists) from the midfield; and Ethan Blank (one goal) and Ethan Chang from the defense. Wood was a first-team All-Central Buckeye League selection and Funderburke was second-team all-league.
“We had a team that was sort of complete,” Roads said. “Maybe not everyone (outside the program) believed we could get back to a state final like we did in 2023 because we lost a lot of guys from that 2023 team. We didn’t have that one guy with 100 goals, but we had a lot of guys who understood what it took and what their role was. They believed in the process.”
While those seven players have graduated, the Warriors return 18 players who were on their tournament roster, including three players, Carrel, Grayden Little, and Michael Shindle, who played in two state finals and another, goalkeeper Cody Thomas, who was on the roster but didn’t play in the 2023 championship game. Carrel made the all-state and all-midwest teams, was the Division IV Central District Player of the Year, and earned first-team All-Central Buckeye League honors. Little was first team all-district and all-CBL, and Thomas was first team all-district.
Additionally, the Warriors have back seniors Max Glick (first team all-district and all-league), Shindle (second team all-CBL), Thomas (honorable mention all-CBL), and junior Blake Miller (second team all-CBL).
“When you graduate seven guys from a state final team, it seems like it would be a big loss,” Roads said. “Those guys set some standards. Now (current players) understand what spots are empty. The guys on the 2023 and 24 teams are not quiet about what it takes, and they have expectations for the younger guys.”
Roads believes his defense might be the strength of his team this year. Worthington Christian, which had nine shutouts last year and only allowed two goals in the post-season, returns six of the cogs in last year’s defense in Thomas (67 saves), Shindle, Little (five goals, one assist), Ian St. John (one goal, one assist), and sophomore Luke Stone (two goals, two assists). At the same time, Carrel will float between the midfield and the defense. Worthington Christian also returns support players in senior Christian Lehman (one goal, one assist) and junior backup keeper Ethan Reale (15 saves).
“We only lost one starting defender from last year’s state final team,” Roads said. “We expect many of those guys to be able to handle the pressure put on them early on. We hope that we can go into any game knowing that we can win it by limiting the other team. (Opponents) are going to have trouble creating chances against those guys.”
Offensively, the Warriors, who averaged 3.83 goals a game last year, return most of their weaponry. Seniors Glick (18 goals, nine assists), and CJ Bah (three goals, four assists), juniors Luke Meyers (one goal, two assists), and Miller (13 goals, four assists), and sophomore Nolan Schoonover (12 goals, four assists) return as forwards. The midfield has back seniors Carrel (five goals, three assists) and Nolan Palmer (two goals), who has been moved from the defense to the midfield, as well as juniors Oliver Blank and Colton Hoskinson (one goal, five assists).
“Our midfield consists of returning varsity players, and we expect them to put pressure on other teams and make some big decisions in games,” Roads said. “We’re deep at forwards this year. We will use that to our advantage, push guys up and see if we can get some goals.”
Worthington Christian, which tied Grandview for first in the league last year with an identical 6-1 record, expects to be challenged in the CBL this season. The Warriors lost to the Bobcats 1-0 on Aug. 21, but Grandview was tripped up by Columbus Academy 2-1. Academy (5-1-1) placed third, and Bexley (4-2-1) took fourth. The Bobcats lost to Minford 1-0 in a Division V regional final, while the Vikings lost to DeSales 3-0 in a Division III district final.
Roads said his team begins the year in the crosshairs of many soccer teams, but it is not one to back away from challenges.
“It’s a big bullseye, probably as big as you can get in boys’ high school soccer,” Roads said. “Everyone knows who we are and what kind of players we have back. I told the boys … the only team that could beat us is ourselves. You’ve got to play to the internal expectations we have. It’s a hard thing to play with that kind of bullseye on your back and you get everyone’s best game.
“Our regular season will be the hardest or one of the hardest regular seasons in Division IV. We’re going to play as many top teams as possible in every division to get 17 chances to grow (in the regular season).”