Moeller Soccer Destroys Postseason Opponents
Moeller Soccer has dominated the first 5 games of the Ohio state tournament, outscoring their opponents 20-0.
Their first win of the state tournament came against Winton Woods, which was a convincing 4-0 win. As tournament play continues, Moeller also knocked off Western Hills (6-0), Colerain (4-0), Mason (2-0), and Anderson (4-0). The team is led by senior Ben Hegge, junior Parker Grinstead, and senior Jordan Walter. The outlook of the tournament seems bright for Moeller Soccer.
The boys concluded the year with a 13-1-3 record, winning the GCL and securing a #1 seed in the region. Nationally, the boys finished with a ranking of 45th in the country after losing their final game of the regular season vs Dublin Coffman High School.
Moeller Soccer utilized a rebuilding scheme to start the regular season after 8 seniors graduated. Half of those seniors were starters (Will Lonneman, Thomas Damon, Nick Rodrigo, and Dylan Grogan) and three of which were defenders. Mike Welker, head coach of the Moeller soccer crew, stated, “Once we figured out our defense in the preseason, our season was able to take off.” Indeed, it did. Coach Welker continued, “To summarize this season, we had a bulls eye on our backs from game 1 against Mason, and we didn’t let off the gas playing city, state, and nationally ranked teams.” It’s crystal clear that Welker is proud of what his boys accomplished throughout the regular season.
Photo By Moeller Instagram. Cal Collins with a big save against Mason.
This is a very special and talented group of young men. Welker commented on this year’s personnel, “These guys show up every day ready to have fun and work. We never have a negative attitude and grind from opening to end.” This is truly a unique group of men that hope to produce a state championship.
In the first 5 postseason games, senior Ben Hegge is the leading scorer with 6 goals, closely followed by his younger brother, Sam, who has 3. The offense, led by Ben Hegge, is like that of a semi-truck, totaling 102 shots in just these 5 games. The defense, led by Davis Miller, is like that China’s Great Wall, giving up 0 goals and 41 shots.
Junior goalkeeper, Cal Collins has had 27 saves. Coach Welker summed it all up by saying, “It was nice to see our guys take care of business early on in these games, allowing our entire team to get valuable minutes and put their work on film.” Welker does heavy analysis on film study and these games have given him the opportunity to look at their strengths and weaknesses. The defense has not given up a single goal through their first 5 games. Senior Davis Miller said, “The key to our success on defense is when we press the ball. This forces many turnovers and we put the ball in the offenses possession.”
Looking at the upcoming schedule in the tournament, Coach Welker makes it clear, “We are only focused one game at a time. Right now, all of our focus is on Turpin.” The Crusaders game plan is to keep taking it game by game, not worrying about any of the future teams they might battle against. Moeller soccer faces Turpin at Lakota East in the Elite 8. The game begins at 3pm on Saturday, November 3rd.
If the Crusaders were to continue their postseason winning ways, the boys will play the state championship game on November 10th at MAPFRE Stadium, where the Columbus Crew play.