The Wildcats had four district or regional tournament games go to a shootout from 2005 to 2008, winning two. So, when last Saturday's Division I district final against Dublin Scioto went that route, the Wildcats might not have been thrilled, but they were prepared.

With backup goalie Evan Robinson making two saves in the shootout, Davidson beat Scioto 1-0 (4-3 in shootout) to earn its third district title in the past four years.

"It's tough to lose on penalty kicks, but you know that it could happen," coach Terry Smith said. "It always happens a few times in the district every year. Every team practices and prepares for it. That's how we knew that (Evan) was going to be the guy in goal if we got into this situation."

The Wildcats improved to 15-2-2 and advanced to play last Tuesday against Gahanna in a regional semifinal.

The winner plays Saturday at Scioto against Dublin Jerome or Olentangy Orange in a regional final. Before last Tuesday, Jerome was 11-7-1 overall and Orange was 16-1-1. Davidson beat Jerome 1-0 on Oct. 3.

The regional champion plays Tuesday at Cedarville against West Chester Lakota West, Kettering Fairmont, Beavercreek or Mason in a state semifinal.

In the district final, each team had a few scoring chances in regulation and in overtime, but keepers from both teams came up with key saves. Davidson starting goalie Adam Black made a crucial diving save with 22 seconds left in the second overtime and finished with 13 saves.

In the shootout, the Wildcats opted to go with Robinson, who was more successful against penalty kicks during recent practices.

The move paid off, with Robinson stopping the third and fifth kicks from Scioto.

For the Wildcats, Ryan Osselborn, Duncan Campbell, Tyler Schoener and Alex Bumpus all converted their penalty kick attempts.

Bumpus, a freshman, made the deciding goal.

In the Wildcats' run to a state title in 2007, Schoener, a freshman at the time, scored the winning goal in a shootout against Olentangy Liberty in a district semifinal.

•Despite losing a significant portion of its roster to Bradley before the season, Darby had its best postseason since 2004 by reaching a Division I district semifinal.

The Panthers beat Whetstone 4-1 in the first round on Oct. 21 for their first postseason win since 2005. They followed that by cruising past West 5-0 in the second round on Oct. 24.

In a district semifinal on Oct. 28, Darby lost 3-0 to Gahanna, which was seeded No. 1 in the Central District and ranked second in the state. The Panthers limited the Lions to just eight shots on goal and trailed 1-0 at half.

"Honestly, I thought we played one of our best games of the season," coach Brad Fout said. "We held strong with them for most of the first half and we gave up a goal, just on a simple mistake, kind of a fluke thing where they happened to be in the right place at the right time."

After a rocky 1-4-3 start, Darby improved over the second half of the season to finish 6-10-3 overall. In the OCC-Central, arguably the toughest conference in the state, Darby placed sixth at 0-4-1, behind Upper Arlington (3-0-2), Davidson (3-1-1), Dublin Coffman (2-1-2), Thomas Worthington (1-2-2) and Worthington Kilbourne (1-2-2). Of the six teams, five reached at least a district semifinal, two reached at least a district final and Davidson won a district championship.

The Panthers will lose a huge class of seniors, including four three-year letterwinners. Andrew Lentz was a three-year starter on defense and made first-team all-OCC-Central this season. Joe Alecusan started two of his three varsity seasons in the midfield and made second-team all-conference this year. Also from the defense, Aaron Ingle was a three-year starter and Kyle Lowery was a three-year letterwinner who started this season.

Senior Oliver Knoell also will be a key loss after starting on defense and serving as one of three captains, along with Alecusan and Ingle. Evan Fallon earned a starting spot in the midfield this year and made honorable mention all-conference. The Panthers also lose seniors Marlon Campos (midfield), Greg Carlisle (goalie), Alex Manifold (midfield), Jason Sampson (forward), Diego Alvarado (forward) and Eddie Ventura (midfield).

Alvarado, an exchange student, led the team in goals with seven.

"They gave us a lot of effort and they were great kids, great student-athletes, so there will be a lot to replace," Fout said. "We're going to be asking a lot of the young guys, particularly these rising seniors."

Junior forward Tyler Boshane, junior midfielder Kyle Smrecansky and junior goalie Seth Ervin all started and lead the group of seven letterwinners expected to return. Boshane and Smrecansky each scored four goals this season. Also expected back are junior Jake Ingle (defense) and sophomores Johnny Antos (defense), Chris Johnson (midfield) and Ted Jones (midfield).