Toledo - If anyone back in September would have thought Anthony Wayne would be playing for another regional title Saturday afternoon...they would probably think 'no. Anthony Wayne started out of the gates with a massive stumble - conceding nine times in the first three games where they were 1-2 with losses to St. John's Jesuit (0-3) and Copley (0-5) but picking up 2-1 win over State power Jackson (Massillon). Head coach of the Generals Brian Billings had to go back to the drawing board and figure things out after such success in the 2014 campaign - well it paid dividends and the Generals find themselves eighty minutes away from their second straight berth to the State's Final Four. Anthony Wayne (12-5-3) enters Saturday's final on a tear after winning ten of their last 11 matches coming into this game Saturday at 12 PM - but standing in their way is the top-rated team in Division I Copley (19-0-1). "We respect them [Copley] and what they are about and their body of work tells you on paper they are the majority favorite" said AW head coach Brian Billings "but we are excited to be back in this game a second year in a row". Anthony Wayne, who came into the OHSAA Division I State tournament seeded the eight seed showed northwest Ohio why they felt they were a bit underseeded - in a tournament that saw many interesting fixtures the Generals took care of business by dispatching Start (10-0) and then a pair of 1-goal wins against St. Francis de Sales in the district semifinal and then getting the win against Springfield after both teams drew 2-2 in the regular season. Coming into last night's match the Generals had not conceded a goal since their loss to Dublin Coffman (who is in their regional final) and held off a wave of chances created by Perrysburg, but senior Evan Black who laid the knockout punch on the Yellow Jackets with 6:42 remaining in the match to propel the Generals to the final gave them a clear opportunity to knock off one of the nation's best high school soccer teams. Billings was very positive in today's training and felt there was great energy and positivity between players and coaches "the boys are ecstatic and ready - we wanted to be in this position when the opportunity arose and they are prepared to play against the best team in Ohio". Goals have not come easy for the Generals as they have had to play very tough defending teams in SFS, Springfield and Perrysburg but at this level if you are given the opportunity...you take it. The last outing against the Indians did not go AW's way and they found themselves very disoriented and unorganized - " We gave up a lot of silly fouls and a team like them [Copley] will make you pay for your mistakes. There midfield was very strong and it was hard to string anything against them and we were not doing a great job tracking players in the middle where they gave us fits." said Billings. Defensively the Generals have been stout and goalkeeping has really stepped up with the tandem of senior Alex Parlette and junior Brendan Vaughn - senior Chris Jackson and junior Hunter Theis alongside sophomore Tyler Mangotic and senior Jake Jankowski have been tough for opposing attackers to breakdown and be able to create anything dangerous. If the Generals look to be successful they will have to be perfect against some of the best attacking players in Ohio. Leading the way for Copley is junior All-American Christopher Brennan (22g, 17a) and sophomore Skye Harter (19g, 18a) - Copley is a very complete team attacking wise and defensively. Under the direction of head coach and alumnus David Antal, who was the member of the 1994 Copley state championship team has praised his team and what they have achieved this fall. The last time the Indians were in this position the Indians defeated a very talented St. John's Jesuit 3-2 and fell short in the state semifinal to eventual state champion and Ohio power Cleveland St. Ignatius - "2011 was the best thing to happen to me professionally - but since then we have gotten better and stronger as a program. Two seniors on our current roster were members of that team in 2011 and they know what this juncture of the tournament is about, it has just trickled down to our younger players and we have embraced every bit of it since" said Copley head coach David Antal. In 2013, it left a sour taste in the Indians mouth after being upset by Medina in the district final 2-1 (who then was beaten 1-0 by the Generals in the Regional final) and it gave the Indians something to work hard to not let that happen again. "In our program we preach family and being together and working for each other, this community in Copley has great support for the team, our girls reaching the regional semifinal and now us...its just a great feeling to have so many people who have faith in what your team can do on the field". When talking about the attacking trio up front for Copley - Coach Antal was very poised and spoke highly about the three "Those player are very special but they are unselfish. They have spread it around when they are being taken out of the game and it is good to see other players on the roster stepping up and being dangerous and giving us that final touch." Copley had to get past a very good Avon team 1-0 in their semifinal in Macedonia Wednesday night and they know the Generals will not be the same team this time around - " We have a lot of respect for Anthony Wayne and Coach Billings has great things coming out of Anthony Wayne but we have gotten better and they have too. They would not be here if they did not". "They are a very physical side [Anthony Wayne] and last night in our game with Avon they were physical too. They made it hard for us and Avon's goalkeeper made some incredible saves - but we want to play great soccer, that's our objective on Saturday in Sandusky" said Antal. The winner of the regional final gets a berth to the state semifinal next Wednesday at a site to be determined against the winner of Cleveland St. Ignatius/Hudson. The game can been seen on tape delay on BCSN with Ben Wilcox and current St. Ursula Academy head coach Chris Black on the call.
IT's WIN or GO HOME...we will find out who will enjoy the victory or have to wait one more year
#nwoSOCCERweekly
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