Jerome to play for first state title Saturday

BELLBROOK -- The Dublin Jerome High School girls soccer team will play for its first state championship when it faces Strongsville in the Division I state final at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at Crew Stadium.

The Celtics advanced to the state final with a 3-2 win over Centerville in a state semifinal on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at Bellbrook. Strongsville, which was second in the final state poll, defeated Sylvania Northview 3-0 in the other semifinal.

Jerome, which improved to 20-1-1 and was fourth in the final state poll, hasn’t lost since falling 1-0 to Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame in its season opener on Aug. 20. Centerville finished 18-2-2.

“I’m excited for the kids,” Celtics coach Josh Brader said. “They’ve really worked hard. They’ve bought into everything that we’ve talked about and they’re just a neat group. They’re such a good group.”

The only other time Jerome has advanced to state was in 2004, when it lost to Cincinnati Indian Hill 1-0 on penalty kicks in a semifinal. The Celtics moved up to Division I in 2005.

“We have one more game,” junior Kaitlin Miller said. “We just have to play our game and keep possession and just keep attacking.”

The Celtics turned in a dominating performance against Centerville, as they held a distinct advantage in ball possession and outshot the Elks 10-2.

Jerome took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Miller with 32 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first half. The Elks tied the game at 1 when Kate Weiskircher scored on a throw-in from Jackie Etson, beating Celtics goalkeeper Megan O’Donnell with 25:51 left.

Jerome retook the lead when a shot by Amelia Robison eluded Centerville goalkeeper Halle Pyle with 15:07 remaining in the half.

“I know that Josh likes me to cross it in and get to the back post and I just put it in there,” Robison said. “I always try to help out my forwards.”

Junior Lindsay Agnew scored on a breakaway with 26:45 remaining in the second half to increase the Celtics' lead to 3-1.

Centerville closed to within 3-2 on a goal by Abbey Collins with 10:23 left, but the Celtics withstood a late push by the Elks.

“We still have one more goal. We don’t want to cut ourselves short,” Agnew said. “We want to keep pushing. We’ll celebrate this one tonight, but it will be back to the grind tomorrow.”