BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (Nov. 4, 2023) -- The Pirates continue to show mercy, continually running off a streak of nothing but ... well, mercy-rule, eight-goal wins in the postseason. That streak continued in Saturday's DII Region 6 final, with Rocky River routing the Manfield Madison Rams 8-0 at Bobcat Stadium. [
DII Bracket]
Winning their fifth Buckeye State playoff game and their fifth straight by an eight-goal margin, the Pirates tied a program record for wins in a single season (22) while setting up a state semifinal match against a rival from around the corner. Rocky River (22-0) will clank swords and exchange cannon fire with the Bay Rockets in a Tuesday match to determine who represents the North Coast in a Friday-afternoon state championship game.
On Saturday, the No. 3-ranked (Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association DII Girls State Poll) Pirates rolled over a Madison squad that had only allowed one goal four previous playoff games. The Maroon & White tallied five goals in the opening half and three more in the second. Rocky River got things going with bang-bag goals in the 12th (Sophia Sindelar from Mia Carney) and 13th (Ava Patti from Maeve Kelly) minutes. It would be Sindelar or Patti involved in every goal the rest of the way, too.
Sindelar finished with four goals and Patti registered three goals and two assists. Grace Quaiser also chipped in, logging her third goal of the season. Kelly filed three assists.
For the match Rocky River had 17 shots on goal, and Madison had two.
Standout junior Sophia Sindelar has now recorded six games this season with four-or-more goals. She has found twine 58 times this season, putting her two goals away from becoming just the seventh player in Ohio girls soccer history to score 60 in a single season.
Across eight games since Oct. 10, the Checkered Buccaneers have now scored 64 goals. That's an 8-goal average over nearly a month of soccer. And the Pirates have been mostly cruising on I-80: five wins in that stretch have been of the 8-0 variety.
That's (gr)eight stuff for a great team perhaps on the verge of the greatest of weeks: a chance to vanquish a rival, get to a title match, and win a championship in the great state of Ohio.CANNON FIRE ...
NEW PH LEVEL: Saturday's victory marked a milestone for Rocky River's bench boss. Coach Patrick Hopkins has now won 250 games at Rocky River. Hopkins, who has been River's coach since 2006, is now 250-78-25 for the Pirates. His victory total includes one state title (2013) and now four region title games (2013, 2020, 2021, 2023).
ON DECK: Rocky River will take on Bay Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Mark Wahlberg Stadium in Avon. The Rockets advance to the final four with a 2-0 win vs. Canfield Saturday. They are 19-2-1 on the season and have won eight straight matches since ...
losing 7-2 to Rocky River on Oct. 4. ... The other two teams remaining in the Buckeye State brackets are Cincinnati Summit and West Holmes. They will meet Tuesday in Marysville. The final four teams are vying to get to the state title game which will be held Friday at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus (1 p.m. kickoff). ... The Rockets are ranked No. 7 in the DII OSSCA poll; the Summit Silver Knights are ranked No. 2.
by Skip Snow