HURON, Ohio -- For a second straight year, Rocky River is headed for a
DII Region 6 title match. On Tuesday, the Pirates dismantled a 14-win Oak Harbor team, 6-0. And with that, River has earned a Saturday date with Lima Shawnee; on the line will be an advance to the Buckeye State final four.
The Pirates (18-2) -- winners of 11 in a row since losing to Bay on Sept. 22 -- netted four goals in Tuesday's opening half against the Oak Harbor squad coincidentally known as the Rockets. Freshman Sophia Sindelar continued her remarkable postseason run by lifting the lid on the game's scoring in the 12th minute. Sindelar -- who would score a second time Tuesday -- has now tallied 15 points in four playoff matches.
Ava Patti scored on a Sophia Murray feed in the 18th minute. Patti assisted on Sindelar's second goal of the night just moments after the midpoint of the first half, vaulting the Maroon & White to a 3-0 lead.
Cara McKenna scored her third goal of the season late in the first half. Rocky River led Oak Harbor, 4-0, at the half, and the rout was on. In the second stanza, Rocky River would get goals from Sophia Murray (assisted by Annika Mocho and Ava Patti) and McKenna again (Mocho).
With their six goals Tuesday, the Pirates have now found twine 33 times in four postseason games. The Pirates
head into Saturday's region finale averaging a robust 5.20 goals per game for the season. In 34 years of Double-R Girls' Soccer, only the state-champion 2013 team ever scored more (5.57 GPG).
And Tuesday's onslaught came against a Rockets team which had won four straight matches, allowing just one goal in the process. River's shutout against Oak Harbor marked its second of these playoffs and its 14th of the season. Only the 2020 Pirates logged more clean sheets in the history of the program. A strong Pirate defense kept its netminders unbothered on Tuesday. Caitlin Rose (72 minutes, no saves) and Maddie O'Malley (eight minutes, one save) were the goalkeepers of record.
And the Pirates on yet another night stand as keepers of a win streak.
Tuesday's River-Oak Harbor contest was played at Huron High School's Memorial Stadium. The venue of the Pirates' next game is to be determined as is the kickoff time. The opponent will be a Shawnee Indians team which advanced to the region championship tilt with a 3-0 victory over Mansfield Madison. The Indians haven't lost since August and are 18-1-1 this season.
Shawnee will face a Rocky River squad which is now 11-2 over its last 13 playoff games. Since 2010, the Pirates are 39-10 (.796) in postseason play. A win Saturday ups that number to 40 wins. And it sends the Double-R into the final four.
by Skip Snow