The Delaware Hayes High School boys soccer team got second-half goals from Nate Spahr and Ben Gibbs and then held off visiting Worthington Kilbourne 2-1 in the first round of the Division I district tournament Oct. 17.

Spahr's goal broke a scoreless tie with 30 minutes, 9 seconds remaining in the game. Gibbs scored with 22:36 left.

"Their keeper (Joey Cipicchio) comes out real well, so we were trying to keep it away from him," coach Nate Weakland said. "We were able to get a flick and it took a big bounce and Gibbs luckily was back post and was able to finish.

"Both of our goals came off throw-ins and we battled inside and were able to finish. That's just the nature of this team. We keep going, fighting and battling."

The Pacers improved to 10-5-2 and advanced to play eighth-seeded Pickerington Central in the second round Oct. 20.

The second-round winner will play in a district semifinal Wednesday, Oct. 24, at fifth-seeded Westerville Central or at home against Hilliard Bradley. The semifinal winner will play fourth-seeded Dublin Coffman, ninth-seeded St. Charles, Central Crossing or Dublin Jerome in the district final Saturday, Oct. 27, at Westerville South.

Delaware lost to Pickerington Central 2-0 on Sept. 27 but did not play any of its potential district semifinal or district final opponents.

After the Pacers took a 2-0 lead on Kilbourne, the Wolves took advantage of a Delaware turnover just outside the Pacers' box, as Josh Stoner took a short pass and scored with 13:10 left.

Goalkeeper Tommy Gibbs had 11 saves for the Pacers.

"We had possession there and thought we were going to get a call that forced the turnover and we kind of stopped for a second or two and, bam, they scored," Weakland said. "We didn't get the call and we got caught off guard."

Girls soccer team wins tourney opener

The girls soccer team defeated host Canal Winchester 1-0 in double overtime in the first round of the Division I district tournament Oct. 16, marking just the second tournament win for the Pacers since 2005.

Susan Thomson scored and goalie Taryn Sweeney had 13 saves for the Pacers, who lost to 10th-seeded Olentangy Liberty 10-0 in the second round Oct. 18 to finish 5-9-4. Before facing Liberty, Delaware had gone 5-2-1 in its previous eight games.

Against Canal Winchester, Aly Smiley's direct kick was stopped by the goalkeeper, but the ball squirted free and Thomson took a shot that hit the post. Thomson got the rebound and shot again, sending the ball into the net.

"They had a good keeper, but we kept battling and got one in there," coach Dan Fuchs said. "Our defense kept us in it. Helen Thomson notched her seventh shutout and Melanie Anderson, Brooke Zinader, Taylor McGinnis and Keera Wilmuth played strong defensively."

Season ends for volleyball team

The girls volleyball team's season ended with a 25-14, 25-22, 25-11 loss to 10th-seeded Kilbourne in the first round of the Division I district tournament Oct. 17.

Candice Rathburn had eight kills, six digs and two aces for the Pacers, who finished 8-15. Jen Foreman and Sarah Scott both had five digs, Ivy Hankins had 15 assists and Phoebe Lewis had two aces.

Boys runners place fourth in OCC meet

The boys cross country team finished fourth in the OCC-Capital Division meet Oct. 13 at Lancaster and the girls team finished sixth.

Both teams competed in the Division I, district 2 meet held Oct. 20 at Watkins Memorial. The top five teams and top 20 individuals advanced to the regional meet on Saturday, Oct. 27, at Pickerington North.

The top four teams and top 16 individuals at regional advance to the state meet Nov. 3 at National Trail Raceway.

In the league meet, the boys team scored 144 points to finish behind New Albany (32), Olentangy (56), Olentangy Orange (91) and Watkins Memorial (115) and ahead of Mount Vernon (145) and Big Walnut (151). Franklin Heights did not have a team score.

Jason Watkins led the Pacers, finishing 20th (17:46.9). Also scoring were Drew Williams (32nd, 18:19.6), Sid Campbell (34th, 18:23.1), Thomas Oliver (39th, 18:27.8) and Jacob Rumbalski (43rd, 18:43.2).

The girls team scored 140 points to finish behind New Albany (33), Orange (65), Olentangy (82), Watkins Memorial (84) and Big Walnut (127) and ahead of Mount Vernon (155). Franklin Heights did not have a team score.

Emily Richard led the Pacers, finishing 10th (21:08.8). Also scoring were Sierra Mollenkopf (23rd, 21:40.8), Sammi Piroska (30th, 22:16.5), Courtney White (40th, 22:54.8) and Megan Swisher (47th, 23:24).

Football team gets set for season finale

The football team will close its season Friday, Oct. 26, at Olentangy.

The Pacers were 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the OCC-Capital before playing Franklin Heights on Oct. 19. They defeated Mount Vernon 21-14 on Oct. 12, dealing the Yellow Jackets a severe blow to their playoff hopes.

Before playing Olentangy on Oct. 19, Mount Vernon was 5-3 and 3-2 and was 10th in the Division II, Region 7 computer ratings. The top eight teams in each region qualify for the playoffs.

Olentangy was 7-1 and 4-1 before playing Mount Vernon. The Braves were third in the Division I, Region 3 computer ratings through eight games, with their lone loss coming against New Albany, 33-14 on Oct. 4.

Against Mount Vernon, Caleb Howell scored on a 23-yard run in the fourth quarter to break a 14-all tie. He also had eight catches for 126 yards, including a 25-yard scoring reception from quarterback Alec Rafeld to tie the score at 7 before halftime. Rafeld finished 13-for-25 passing for 216 yards.

Delaware's other touchdown came on Jante' Wright's 33-yard interception return. It was one of three interceptions for the Pacers, who lost four fumbles.

Seniors sparked girls tennis team

The girls tennis team made a strong push to produce a district qualifier.

However, junior Blaire Ramsey and the doubles team of seniors Allissa Beard and Audrey Mungovan fell short in a Division I sectional Oct. 4 at Hilliard Davidson.

The Pacers finished 6-11 overall and 3-4 in the OCC-Capital.

Ramsey defeated Teays Valley's Katherine Lawless 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 in a three-and-a-half-hour, first-round match and beat Marysville's Megan Marsh 7-5, 7-0 in the second round before losing 6-0, 6-0 to top-seeded Lauren Bellinger of Jerome in a district-qualifying match.

Beard and Mungovan won their opener, 6-1, 6-0 against Alexandria Goodwin and Elise Goodwin of Groveport, and defeated Westland's Madison Qualls and Brittany Wolford 6-1, 6-0 in the second round before losing 6-0, 6-0 to second-seeded Ellee Bullock and Caitlyn Murzbacher of Jerome in a district-qualifying match.

Also at sectional, senior Bri Brown went 1-1 in singles, beating Marion-Franklin's Abagail Page 6-0, 6-0 in the first round and losing 6-0, 6-0 to fourth-seeded Rhiannon James of Jerome in the second round, and junior Claire Brennan went 0-1 in singles, losing to Darby's Megan Allen 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 in the first round.

Juniors Caroline Proffitt and Lexus Wolf went 0-1 in doubles at sectional. They had a first-round bye before losing to fourth-seeded Chloe Shevlin and Ella Wilson of Davidson 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.

The Pacers placed fifth (36 points) in the final OCC-Capital standings, behind New Albany (82, 7-0), Olentangy (62, 6-1), Orange (55, 5-2) and Big Walnut (44, 4-3) and ahead of Watkins Memorial (18, 2-5), Mount Vernon (14, 1-6) and Franklin Heights (2, 0-7).