After the game, Centerville coach Jeff Monbeck consoled his players, including 13 seniors, who wanted nothing more than to play together one more week. The Elks finished the season 13-5-2.
“It is (tough), but for the team - for what we have and who we are this year - I don’t want to say we overachieved, but we got the most out of this group,” Monbeck said. “We knew that this game was going to be a challenge. That’s one of the best high school teams I’ve ever seen in St. Charles. They’re a class side, athletic, technical, and we knew they were good on set pieces, and we had to be good on the second ball. Unfortunately, we went down (early), and then fighting back against a side that’s that good, it seemed to be insurmountable.”
St. Charles, last year’s D-I state runner-up, will play defending six-time state champion Cleveland St. Ignatius in a D-I state semifinal game at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bellville Clear Fork High School. The Cardinals fell to St. Ignatius 1-0 in double overtime in last year’s state title game.
St. Charles took an early lead about seven minutes into the match when junior A.J. Boiarsky found the net off a set piece. With about five minutes left in the first half, the Cardinals scored off another set piece when junior Sam Lofthouse put one home to take a 2-0 lead.
“Both goals were off second balls on set pieces,” Monbeck said. “They’re really good at that. They run kind of wonky trick plays and stuff like that that can be confusing, and they’re really good at it. We knew it and we did a good job of winning the first ball. We just didn’t clear it enough. They’re so active in winning that second one and unfortunately, they put two in on us and we couldn’t come back from it.”
The Elks let St. Charles possess the ball in hopes of working their counter attack, but weren’t able to get within striking distance.
“That’s what they’re good at and we’re more of a counter-attacking team,” Monbeck said. “We’re not a super technical side where we’re going to break you down and pass the ball down the field. We like to get it down there, win the second one, and then go and go quickly.
“We sat in a little bit and let them serve long balls, and we tried to win them. They’re just really athletic and really good in the air, which that really hurt us, because we couldn’t win those second balls. Kudos to them, they’re a really good team.”
The Elks were one of three Greater Western Ohio Conference teams to win district titles. Beavercreek fell to St. Xavier 1-0 on penalty kicks in a regional final on Sunday afternoon at Lakota East. Fairmont, who beat GWOC champ Springboro in a district semifinal match, fell to St. X 3-1 in a regional semifinal.
“The GWOC was loaded,” Monbeck said. “Everybody lost a (conference) game because someone was really good on the night. It’s a testament to the GWOC. It’s a testament to the players in Dayton. We were fortunate that we got the path that we got.”
The Elks started the season 10-2 before entering the postseason on an 0-2-2 stretch that included losses to Mason and Springboro and draws with Beavercreek and Alter.
Centerville beat Fairfield 2-1 to win their third district title in four years and beat Lakota West to advance to the regional final for the first time since the program finished as state runner-up in 2021.
“I’m super proud of my group,” Monbeck said. “We’ve got some young guys and we have some seniors, and they’re upset, rightfully so, but I’m super proud of them. To be standing here playing in November, which is always a saying ‘If you’re playing in November, you had a good year.’ Hats off to the leadership of this group because they turned it around.”
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