BELLEFONTAINE — Anna couldn’t keep up with Waynesville in a Division III district final on Thursday at Bellefontaine’s AcuSport Stadium and fell 5-0.
The Spartans scored one goal in the first half, then scored four in the second to pull away.
“That’s a real good team,” Anna sixth-year coach Mike Noll said of Waynesville. “I don’t think the girls were ready for that first one. That speed when they came down the field, we just don’t see that. Here again — I say it every year — we don’t play on turf, and the speed is something.
“This is only the third time we’ve played on turf this year. We just don’t play on it, so it’s hard to prepare for.”
The Rockets finish 12-3-3 overall. They won their fourth Western Ohio Soccer League title in five years this season and advanced to a district final for the fifth consecutive year.
“The girls are doing great,” Noll said. “The six years I’ve been here, we’ve been ranked in state in the top 10 all six years. The girls do great, for a small northern school on a small field. They show up and they play hard every day.”
The Rockets will lose seven seniors to graduation, including Tanner Spangler, who scored 39 goals this season. She was named WOSL player of the year for the second year and finished with around 120 career goals.
Seniors Chloe Baughman and Carissa Edwards joined Spangler as first team all-WOSL selections while senior Ashley Bertke was a second team selection and senior Breelyn Berner was an honorable mention selection.
“All four years, they’ve all gotten better,” Noll said of the squad’s seven seniors.
Samantha Erbach, Emme Greely, Laine Kuhns, Emma Whitaker and Brooke Woody each scored a goal for Waynesville (13-6), which advances to face Cincinnati Country Day (17-0-1) in a regional semifinal on Tuesday at a site to be determined.
The winner will advance to face the Lehman Catholic vs. Cincinnati Mariemont winner in a regional final on Saturday.
Lehman Catholic 1, Cincinnati Madeira 0
Eva Dexter scored a goal with two minutes left in the first half, and the Cavaliers hung on to earn a Div. III district title on Thursday at Bellbrook High School.
Dexter, a sophomore, sent a shot from the left side of the goal into the right side of the net to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.
The Cavaliers (12-4-2) advance to face Cincinnati Mariemont in a regional semifinal on Tuesday at a site to be determined. Lehman tied the Warriors (13-3-2) 2-2 in a nonconference match on Sept. 4 in Sidney.
• Volleyball
New Knoxville 3, New Bremen 1
The Cardinals lost 23-25, 25-13, 25-16, 25-21 in a Div. IV district final on Thursday at Elida High School.
New Bremen, which was ranked No. 1 in D-IV in the final state coaches association poll, finishes 24-1 overall. The Cardinals had advanced to the D-IV state final each year since 2017 and won titles in 2017 and 2019.
New Bremen beat New Knoxville 3-1 in a Midwest Athletic Conference match on Oct. 12. The Rangers won a MAC matchup in regular season last year before New Bremen won a district final matchup between the two teams.
Mia Schmitmeyer led the Cardinals with 16 kills while Olivia Heitkamp had 12 kills and seven blocks. Melina Schrader had 27 assists. Abi Powers had 15 digs.
The Rangers (23-2) advance to face Leipsic in a regional semifinal on Nov. 4 in Elida.
