What a difference a year makes.
Last fall, the Buckeye Valley boys soccer team fell to Wellington 9-0. It was one of the Barons’ worst losses of the season, but, well, the Jaguars did go on to win the Division III state title.
In Saturday’s rematch, though, things went much, much differently as BV took advantage of its chances on offense and allowed next to nothing defensively en route to an impressive 3-1 win over the defending state champs.
“We’ve had some big wins here,” Buckeye Valley coach Eric Staley said, “but this one has to be near the top. I’m very proud of the boys and their hard work tonight. ‘Rocks’ (Diamonte Jeffries) gave us some really good minutes off the bench, the back line (Zach Church, Ben Otto, Joe Reynolds and Matthew Viri-Dunahue) really shut down their attack and Treyden (Williams) made some key saves.”
Jeffries set up the first goal of the game, assisting A.J. Nicolosi in the 35th minute, and drew a foul in the box to set up a successful penalty kick by J.P. Seliskar in the 78th minute.
Eli Aquino had the Barons’ other goal, cashing in on a PK after a Wellington handball in the box early in the second half.
Williams had six saves in the win while the Jaguars’ Aurius Calloway finished with two.
Also: Olentangy 0, Olentangy Liberty 0; Olentangy Orange 4, Thomas Worthington 2
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Buckeye Valley hosted Delaware Hayes in a season-opening dual Saturday, taking the top four spots on the way to a 17-38 win.
Chloe Dawson crossed the finish line first, taking top honors with a time of 20:54.
Bailey Kreft (21:30.3), Madelyn Zindars (22:06) and Ashley Beatty (22:13.5) finished second, third and forth, respectively, while Jia Radloff (23:09.3) also finished in the top 10, closing seventh.
The Pacers had five runners finish in the top 10 as well. Leila Bouziri was fifth in 22:32.8, Miranda Gemberling closed sixth in 22:44.7 and Rowan Hering, Sammy West and Lauren English nabbed spots eight through 10 with respective efforts of 24:04.5, 24:48 and 24:53.2.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
Blake Frisch and Luke Todt took the top two spots as Delaware Hayes notched a 21-40 season-opening win over Buckeye Valley Saturday.
Frisch had the best time among the 66 runners in action, finishing the course in 18:58.7. Todt wasn’t far behind, closing in 19:12.4, while the Barons’ Dylan Fisher and Liam George closed third and fourth with respective times of 19:16.9 and 19:17.2.
BOYS GOLF
Luke Johnson fired a career-low 68 — a mark good enough for second among individuals — to lead Olentangy Orange to a third-place showing at Monday’s Jefferson Classic at Jefferson Country Club.
The Pioneers, who also got solid contributions from Corbin Bentley (73), Jon Green (75) and Mitch Purdue (78), finished with a team total of 294.
Olentangy Liberty finished a shot back in fourth. Grant Smeltzer led the way with a 70 while Jack Snyder, Andrew Blosser and Ben Armbruster all shot 75s.
Olentangy was in action as well, finishing with a combined 355. Tyler Phillips led the team with a 78 while Ben Wilch (83), Luke Keevins (95) and Jack Hennigan (99) also chipped in.
Dublin Jerome won the team title with a 292.
GIRLS SOCCER
Evy Wirth scored in the 12th minute to put Buckeye Valley up 1-0 on Senior Night, but visiting Columbus School for Girls got back to even before the teams settled for a 1-1 draw Monday night in Delaware.
FIELD HOCKEY
Olentangy Liberty 2, Olentangy 1, OT; Columbus Academy 6, Olentangy Orange 0
GIRLS GOLF
Emily Longworth carded a solid 48 to lead Buckeye Valley against visiting Bexley Monday afternoon.
Other BV scorers included Kirsten Fridley (50), Sidney Schmaltz (53), Madison Lowe (54) and Becca Herriott (54).
Also: Olentangy 176, Westerville Central 212
