“It took a lot,” Calabrese said. “We had a lot of opportunities. We just didn’t finish. To finally get one felt so amazing.”
Calabrese’s goal with 5:16 remaining turned out to be the lone crack in either defense in Beavercreek’s 1-0 win in the Division I regional final.
Beavercreek, the fifth ranked team in the state, advances to the state semifinals to face No. 2 Columbus St. Charles on Wednesday at Xenia High School. St. Charles advanced with a 3-1 win over Dublin Coffman and holds the lone win against the Beavers this season.
“I think the first time we played them, we more beat ourselves than they beat us,” Calabrese said of the 3-1 Sept. 24 loss at St. Charles. “I think it is a very winnable game for us.”
Beavercreek outshot Springboro 7-2, including 4-0 in the second half.
“He’s top notch,” Springboro coach Paul Bohaboy said of Steele. “He is a Division I (college) keeper for sure.”
Steele was especially frustrating to Calabrese, who watched the Panther keeper make a diving save on a shot from point-blank range with 12:05 left.
So when Calabrese took a long outlet pass from the back against the run of play, he knew he had to find a way to finish.
Steele came off his line to try and attack Calabrese at the top of the box, but Calabrese chipped the ball over the keeper, leaving him alone with an empty net.
“Once I got it over the keeper, I was like ‘Wow, that was the last one,’” Calabrese said. “I kind of lost focus a little bit… it’s all a blur. I told myself not to miss it and then I nearly did.”
Calabrese rolled his shot just inside the far post to set off a celebration on the Beavercreek side.
The Panthers pushed the action over the final five minutes, but could not find room to unleash a clean shot.
“That’s the story of our season,” Bohaboy said. “We struggle to get a lot of shots against good teams. We can’t get that last possession we need to finish and Beavercreek did a great job limiting our opportunities.”
Alter 2, Tippecanoe 0: Ty Borton scored a pair of goals in the second half to give the Knights the Division II regional title at West Carrollton.
Borton broke a scoreless tie six minutes into second half before adding an insurance goal.
The Knights will face the winner of Columbus DeSales and Chillicothe in the state semis on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at London High School.
Alter, 19-1-2, is ranked third in the final state coaches poll while DeSales finished as the top-ranked team.
Girls
Springboro 3, Loveland 2: Same site, same round, different result.
A year after falling 1-0 to Loveland in the Division I regional finals at Lakota East, the Panthers rallied from behind to claim a 3-2 win over the state’s third-ranked team to win a regional crown.
Loveland jumped to a 2-0 lead at the half, but the Panthers came on strong in the second half.
Kim Davis cut the deficit to 2-1 before Jaiden Phelps tied the game at 2-2 when she converted a penalty kick.
Paige Elliott scored the game winner when she converted off a corner kick with 17 minutes remaining for the Panthers first lead, 3-2.
The Panthers will face either Pickerington North or Gahanna-Lincoln (both unranked) in the state semis Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Xenia.
Alter 3, McNicholas 2: Gracie Haines scored with less than 10 minutes in regulation to break a 2-2 tie and give Alter a Division II regional title.
McNicholas, the defending state champs and top-ranked team in the state, had tied the game at 2-2 with 15 minutes remaining.
McNicholas had taken an early 1-0 lead, but Lauren Dietz tied the game at 1-1 for the Knights.
Alter , 16-2-2 and ranked No. 2, will face the Granville on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at London High School.
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