Roads Counting On The Team’s Experience To Help Warriors Continue Their Successful Run
As the Worthington Christian High School boys soccer team opened the season against visiting Northland on Aug. 15, senior Blake Miller said being the defending Division IV state champion doesn’t put any additional pressure on the team.
Being in the state final is all he’s ever known.
In Miller’s three-year tenure with the team, Worthington Christian has reached Historic Crew Stadium every year.
After losing in the state championship game in 2023 and 2024, the Warriors defeated Bay Village 2-1 in overtime to win their fourth state title in the team’s storied history.
“People on the outside probably see it as pressure because we are the defending state champions,” Miller said. “Inside our locker room, we see it differently. We earned the right to have high expectations.
“Every team is going to circle us on their schedule and give us their best game because they want to beat the defending champs. We embrace that challenge instead of running from it.”
No matter what Worthington Christian accomplishes this year, it might be difficult to top last season’s dramatic run to its first championship since 2011. To add a fourth state-title star to their jersey, the Warriors had to overcome the nightmares of losing to Willoughby Andrews Osbourne 2-1 in 2023 and Warsaw River Valley 1-0 in double overtime in 2024.
Worthington Christian trailed 1-0 after surrendering a goal with 2:23 left in regulation. A minute later, the Warriors answered. Junior Nolan Schoonover misfired on a pass to Miller, but the ball caromed off the post for a game-tying goal with 83 seconds remaining. Five minutes into overtime, Schoonover set up graduate Max Glick for the golden goal.
“(After Bay Village scored) it was the worst of the worst,” coach Dan Roads said, laughing. “I thought, ‘We’re going to lose the state championship three times in a row. One of the best things we did that day was practicing a drill to see if we could start with the ball in our keeper’s hands, go down the field, and score within ten seconds.
“For every coach, there’s a dream to win championships and get recognized with the team that deserves it, a team of the right players with the right values. I really feel like we had a team that fought for it and deserved it.”
The question becomes “Can they do it again?”
Since 2015, only two teams – Cleveland St. Ignatius (six consecutive titles in Division I from 2019-24 and back-to-back championships in 2015-16) and Summit Country Day (2015-17) – have repeated as boys soccer champions.
The Warriors graduated nine players from last year’s team, including midfielder Ethan Carrel (10 goals, four assists), an All-American as well as first-team all-state and district and league player of the year; forward Max Glick (20g, 13a) and defender Grayden Little, both first-team all-district; and starting goalkeeper Cody Thomas.
Despite the graduation of those key players, ask Miller what the strength of his team is this fall, and he says without hesitation, “Experience.”
“Not many teams know what it’s like to still be playing in November,” Miller said. “That’s something we have done the last three years. We understand what it takes to make a deep tournament run and make it to the finish line.”
To build on that success, Worthington Christian must find ways to rebuild its offense, which averaged 4.8 goals per game. Seniors Blake Miller (18g, 11a), Luke Myers (3g, 1a), and Ben Winfree (4g, 1a) and juniors Ian Rapp (9g, 4a), Nolan Schoonover (22g, 11a), and Ian Valente (1a) will see time at the forward slots and seniors Colton Hoskinson (2g, 20a) and Isaac Hoeflich (1g) and juniors Jeremiah Davis and Luke Stone will strengthen the midfield.
Defensively, the Warriors allowed only 0.91 goals per game with 12 shutouts. However, the Warriors graduated goalkeeper Cody Thomas and backup keeper Ethan Reale as well as Christian Lehman (1g), Grayden Little (2g, 5a), Michael Shindle, and Ian St. John (3g, 2a).
Seniors Oliver Blank, Cy Edwards, Caleb Fields, and Ben Trader, and junior Cole Little will be the keystones of the defense. Junior Noah Brown and sophomore Clark Hartman are expected to see time at keeper.
The Warriors are also expecting sophomores Mikey DeVenne (M), Lucas Kourie (D), Levi Pribe (D), and Jack Smiley (M), and freshmen Hudson Caruthers (F) and Isaac Schoonover (D) to contribute.
Worthington Christian, 17-2-1 in Central Buckeye League play over the three years, dominated the league last year. The Warriors outscored league rivals 35-5 while heading for a 7-0 record. Bexley, which lost to the Warriors 2-0, was second at 6-1. Grandview and Bishop Ready followed at 4-3.
Roads doesn’t foresee an easy path in the league this year.
“In terms of the league, there’s not a lot of rest for us,” he said. “That gets us ready for the tournament. We’ll have fight after fight in those league games. Hopefully, we will be battle-tested and ready.”
Miller believes being tested is much more important than carrying the mantle of tradition.
“At the end of the day, last year’s championship doesn’t help us this season,” Miller said. “We have to earn it every single day.
“Our focus isn’t on defending a title; it’s on becoming the best version of this year’s team we can be and putting ourselves in a position to compete for another one.”