Central Ohio high school sports fans, who have followed soccer over the years, might remember the night of Nov. 11, 1995. It was on that date that four Columbus area teams captured state soccer championships.

The Westerville South and DeSales girls teams won titles, as did boys teams from Westerville North and Columbus Academy. It was truly a magical night in area high school sports history, but it was nearly matched last Friday when three local boys soccer teams achieved their dreams by taking home gold medals.

Congratulations to Worthington Christian coach Dan Roads and the Warriors for their Division III title, to DeSales coach Domenic Romanelli and the Stallions for winning in Division II and to Gahanna Lincoln coach Dwayne Marshall and the Lions, who won in Division I.

At Gahanna, Marshall led his club to the most special season. Not only did the Lions walk off with gold medals from their final game, but they also completed an unbeaten season with only one slight blemish, a tie against Watkins Memorial.

"It was real heart that allowed this team to win a state championship," said Marshall, who is in his 13th year as head coach at Gahanna and his 21st coaching soccer. "This team believed in themselves no matter what happened on the field. When they couldn't score, they never panicked.

"When the other teams had chances, they cleaned things up. It was the type of team that you see once in a while that could sort of flip a switch and turn things up to a different level on the field. They were brilliant when they passed the ball, and they were brilliant in moving on the field without the ball. They learned to reach each other well and the whole process was a great learning experience for them."

Marshall added that the zero in the loss column never put pressure on the players.

"Our goal was always to play to the best of our abilities, and I believe we did that, especially in the tournament. I told the parents of our players to not put any extra pressure on our players, and it seemed to work. Maybe the unbeaten streak was in the back of their minds, but once we got into tournament play, we knew every opponent was going to give us a great game, so the unbeaten streak really never came into play.

"I honestly think that during the regular season, being undefeated made our guys a bit cocky and then we played Watkins Memorial to a tie. I think it brought us down to earth and helped us the rest of the year."

Marshall said that winning the state title was special, and it's a feeling he doesn't think can be duplicated.

"When the game with Cleveland St. Ignatius ended and we were state champs, it was the best feeling I have ever had in coaching and it is something I will never forget. I think if I am blessed to return to a state championship game that it won't quite be the same as this experience because this one was the first one which makes it more meaningful. But I, as a coach, have learned a lot from this season.

"This coaching experience has helped me develop better relationships with the students in the classroom. You should use the experience you have in the athletic arena to better you as a person, and I have always said that coaches ought to become better teachers and teachers ought to become better coaches."

Coach Marshall, your coaching was pretty darn good in the fall of 2009 and you and all the Lions, as well as teams from DeSales and Worthington Christian, have much to be proud of. Congratulations.

I'll see you at a game.

Larry Larson is a former athletics director at Grandview High School. He can be heard as "Mr. High School Sports" on WTVN 610 AM.