The win sealed Indian Hill’s first state semifinal appearance since 1987 and ended Fenwick’s record-breaking season at 17-1-3.
“Just one of those games,” Fernandez said. “All the games at this level are battles and today I give kudos to Indian Hill.”
The Braves, runners-up in the Cincinnati Hills League, improved to 15-5-2. Indian Hill reached this stage last year and lost to eventual state champion Dayton Carroll but, according to Indian Hill coach Bill Mees, that experience didn’t help the current team.
“It is funny, I thought last year we were loaded, with 10-11 seniors, and we lost,” said Mees, in his 25th year coaching the Braves. “You never know, you hope you get back to this level. It feels good.”
Fenwick, which beat Indian Hill 2-1 in September, has been led all year by the high-scoring duo of Luke Andrew (19 goals) and Braydon Ihle (17), but the Braves surrounded the pair of seniors whenever they touched the ball, forcing turnovers or errant passes.
“Yeah, we have two frontrunners and they defended them well,” Fernandez said. “We didn’t do a good job dropping the ball back today. We held the ball too long.”
Mees said the plan was to force the Falcons to find scoring from other sources than the high-flying duo.
“We had a plan,” Mees said with a smile. “We knew what could work but the boys executed. Really it was more important for them to stay in the game mentally so we maintained our discipline defensively.”
The Falcons and Braves combined for only 10 shots on goal but Luckey was in the right place at the right time early. Brandon Kuy served a ball into the box that Fenwick defended but failed to clear, with Luckey trapping, stepping in and nailing a shot in the upper right corner of the net to beat goalie Jeff Fiorenza.
Fenwick appeared to finally break through the Indian Hill defense in the second half when Andrew received a pass from Michael Hoffmaster and poked one by Indian Hill goalie Ryan Combs, but as the Falcons celebrated, the goal was disallowed due to a close offsides call.
Overall, the Falcons, who were co-champs of the Greater Catholic League Co-Ed North Division, enjoyed their best season and furthest trip into the state tourney, something Fernandez said will only help in the future.
“This is a great bunch of kids who had a great season,” Fernandez said. “They were like sponges, bought in early and worked well together. I knew we had some talent and it came together. Now it is time to start working on next year.”
About the Author