The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Nemesis controls Bay in championship tilt
Columbus St. Francis DeSales has beaten Rockets for its last four state titles
COLUMBUS » Sometimes you are simply outplayed.
That was the case in the Division II state final at MAPFRE Stadium on Nov. 11, where Bay fell to Columbus St. Francis DeSales, 4-0.
The state title is the seventh for DeSales, the wire-towire No. 1 ranked team in the state, and the Stallions’ third in the last four years. DeSales has now beaten Bay (17-5-1) for its last four state titles (2017, ’15, ’14, ’09), and holds a sixgame win streak against the Rockets, dating back to August 2013.
It also marks the completion
of the second undefeated season in Stallions history, as DeSales finished 22-0-1. The only other Stallions squad to finish undefeated was the 1992 team that finished 21-0-2, topping University School, 3-1, in the Division II state title game for the program’s fourth state title.
The win capped a remarkable postseason run where the Stallions’ offense was deadly and the defense unbreakable, as DeSales outscored opponents, 38-0.
“They’re good,” Bay coach
Bobby Dougherty said. “They’re phenomenal. They’re as good of a team as we will see, year in and year out.”
Dougherty’s assessment was shared by senior defender Sam Nortz.
“They’re unreal,” Nortz said. “Hector, No. 10 in the middle, he’s amazing. His brother, No. 9, Christian, he’s unreal, too. They just have a really great touch, amazing foot skills. They can just keep the ball really well up top.”
All of those skills were on display in the state final, and Nortz mentioned DeSales’ Hector Gomez for a reason.
The senior captain assisted on three of the Stallions’ goals and controlled the pace of the game through the midfield to keep the Bay defenders on their heels all afternoon.
The performance marked a significant return of Gomez, who had missed most of the previous three games with a high ankle sprain. Suffering the injury during DeSales regional semifinal against River View, he missed the entirety of the regional final against Alexander and played just over two minutes in the state semifinal against Kettering Alter.
Gomez’s effectiveness in his return caught Nortz a bit off-guard.
“Yeah, he was definitely faster than I thought he would be with that injury,” Nortz said. “That’s a tough one to come back from, but he was great for them.”
With all of the praise for Gomez, it was actually junior midfielder Michael Cockerell who got the Stallions on the board in the 17th minute, receiving the ball from 20 yards out, cutting right and putting a solid touch on his shot that went right side net.
Five minutes later, Gomez came into play when he put a strong cross into the box from the right wing. Junior Nick Fuchs was there to bury the shot for DeSales’ second goal in six minutes.
Dougherty believed that, had the deficit remained at 2-0 heading into halftime, the Rockets would have been able to successfully bounce back.
But that was not the case, as Hector Gomez once again hurt the Rockets, passing the ball through the middle of the box to his brother, Christian, who had a simple goal from six yards out in the 37th minute.
“The game got out of hand with that third goal,” Dougherty said. “If we slipped out of it 2-0, we can probably regroup. That third goal was a killer.”
It was the cap to a period in which the Rockets always appeared to be a step behind the Stallions.
“You know, that first initial goal, we were a bit slow in the close-out,” Dougherty said. “We just kind of got into the ticky-tack stuff. The end result is that they punished us for it.
“We just told them at halftime to breathe, relax. It was a rough half and we didn’t play well.”
Things did not get any better as the second half started.
Fuchs netted his second goal of the afternoon five minutes into the half off a feed from Hector Gomez, and the Rockets never recovered.
“They just couldn’t fight their way out of it,” Dougherty said.