With the boys soccer district tournament draw looming Oct. 11, central Ohio again appears ready to flex its muscles in the postseason.
The Columbus area lays claim to three of the top seven teams in the state, according to MaxPreps: defending Division I state champion Dublin Jerome (No. 3), St. Charles (No. 5) and Olentangy Orange (No. 7).
Defending state champions Watterson and Worthington Christian rank fifth in divisions III and IV, respectively.
Here are five storylines as the calendar turns to October:
Independence marks return to City League final
A swell in turnout and contributions from several underclassmen have driven the 76ers to their first City League-South championship since 2015, and two-time defending City champion Whetstone awaits in the final at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at Kilbourne
Run Sports Park, 4625 Westerville Road in Columbus.
First-year coach Chase Richardson said “everything has been a surprise” for Independence (7-1-1), which has 45 players in its program – up from 17 a season ago – and finished a 5-0 run through the City-South on Sept. 28 with a 2-0 win at Briggs.
“I taught the juniors last year so I had a lot of buy-in for the seniors,” Richardson said. “We have the talent, but not all of the talent has always come out [for the team]. Every week, it has felt like we’re getting [better]. I admire the level of commitment and dedication.”
The Dia brothers, freshman Mouhamadou (8 goals, 3 assists) and junior Ibrahima (7 goals, 6 assists), lead a balanced offense. Senior Abdullahi Hassan-Abdi has four goals and six assists.
“When you have a talented player like Ibrahima, the players gravitate to him,” Richardson said. “And when you have a freshman who pushes a team forward, as opposed to seniors who pull a team forward, that’s a great thing.”
Defending OHSAA champion Dublin Jerome reloads
With five starters back, the cupboard hardly was bare for the Celtics.
But with 12 wins and a tie in its first 14 games and a 55-16 advantage in goals, coach Nathan Maust said his team is “even in a better place than we were a year ago.”
A deep offense is led by senior Pedro Maamud (13 goals, 4 assists) and junior Chase Fritter (12 goals, 6 assists), and seniors Sean Dempsey and Liam Neidenthal combined for 16 assists through 13 games, complementing a defense anchored by senior Finn Peterson.
Neidenthal had a hat trick Sept. 24 in a 4-1 win at Olentangy Liberty.
“Pedro and Chase have the most goals, but much of that pivots around how effective Liam is around the ball and what he creates,” Maust said. “Fritter is the engine right now of the attack … but really Neidenthal is the most underrated. He does it all and is not a one-dimensional creator.
“Defensively, we have the most room to grow. We have a completely new back line from last year, and many of our goals conceded are self-inflicted. We are improving, and I think with some strong leadership, we will be in the right place defensively come tournament time.”
Olentangy depending on veteran defense
Perennial Division I district contender Olentangy leaned on a junior-laden defense during a 7-0-2 start, and despite consecutive losses in September, the Braves expect that will remain the case as they seek their third regional appearance in four years.
Juniors Matthew Coy, Jack Oyer, Owen Paik and Brady Rabin lead a unit that allowed only three goals through nine games before back-to-back losses to Orange (4-0 on Sept. 19) and Hilliard Darby (2-1 on Sept. 22). Senior Carter Birch, a first-year starter, is in goal.
“Our back line, all five or six of the guys in that area have been really solid,” coach Brendan Vazquez said. “We’ve been fortunate to play most of our games [while leading], so we are able to keep the shape, keep distances and not expand ourselves out too far. Defensively, it’s overall been very solid.”
Two more juniors, forwards Owen Hanlon (8 goals, 2 assists) and Efrain Hernandez (3 goals, 7 assists), lead the offense.
“We want to keep and dominate possession, play those short passes, so that is something we’ve leaned on,” Vazquez said.
Strong junior class leads Grandview Heights
Bobcats coach James Gerdes admitted he could have gone much longer in naming all the contributors to his team’s 8-4-1 start, but suffice it to say that a large junior class and unorthodox position switch have been key.
Senior Toby Hatzifotinos moved from goalie to forward, where he and classmate Finn Hayes have keyed an offense that averages 2.4 goals per game.
Hatzifotinos has been succeeded by junior Kline Donovsky, and fellow juniors Cole Jackson (forward/midfielder/defender), Jude Haack (forward/midfielder), Jack Heald (forward) and Jackson Young (midfielder) have guided a turnaround that saw Grandview match last year’s win total (8-9-1) on Sept. 26 with a 2-1 victory over Buckeye Valley.
The Bobcats are ranked second locally in Division V behind 2025 state semifinalist Fairbanks.
“We have some experience but still some room for growth,” Gerdes said. “(Hatzifotinos) he has been doing amazingly better by the day. He is really adjusting well to playing out in the field. He is learning a lot. Obviously there is a lot more conditioning playing in the field, but his IQ is really, really impressive.”
CCL going strong heading into postseason
No area league has more representation at or near the top of the local rankings than the CCL, which claims the top team locally in Division II (St. Charles) and the top two in Division III (Watterson and DeSales) in MaxPreps’ rankings.
St. Charles and Watterson are tied atop the league standings (3-1) entering play Sept. 29, two games ahead of DeSales. The Cardinals and Eagles split their regular-season meetings.
Whether St. Charles will compete in the division I or II postseason depends on if it is granted an injunction against the Ohio High School Athletic Association. The Cardinals prefer to compete in Division I, but a clerical error prevented the proper paperwork from being filed on time. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 5 in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 5 storylines in central Ohio boys soccer ahead of OHSAA postseason
