HUDSON, Ohio — The Hudson Explorers girls soccer team takes a perfect 20-0 record into the Division II state semifinals tonight, facing Cincinnati St. Ursula Academy at 7 p.m. at Big Walnut High School with a berth in Saturday’s state championship game on the line. The Explorers reached the final four with a 4-0 win over Highland in the Region 7 final on Saturday, according to the Akron Beacon Journal’s tournament roundup.
The regional final was a rematch, and Hudson handled it the same way it handled the first meeting. The Beacon Journal reported that Hudson beat the Hornets (13-6-1) for the second time this season to win the Region 7 crown, extending a season in which the Explorers have not dropped a match. Hudson’s road through the bracket included an 8-0 win in the district rounds and a 3-0 shutout of North Ridgeville in the regional semifinal, according to the Beacon Journal.
St. Ursula arrives from the other direction — as a program returning to this stage after a long absence. The Bulldogs (13-5-1 in the Beacon Journal’s listing; 13-5-3 in the Cincinnati Enquirer’s) beat Cincinnati Anderson 2-1 in overtime in their regional final, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, reaching the state semifinals for the first time since the program’s back-to-back state championship years of 2007 and 2008. The Enquirer reported it is St. Ursula’s ninth trip to the state semifinals in program history.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association set the full semifinal picture in its pairings release on November 8. In Division II, the other semifinal sends Columbus Bishop Watterson against Avon at Madison Comprehensive, also at 7 p.m. tonight. The two winners meet for the Division II state championship on Saturday, November 14, at 7 p.m. at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, according to the OHSAA.
Hudson is making its second straight trip to the state semifinals, according to the Beacon Journal — a run that has turned the Explorers into the standard for girls soccer in the Akron area this fall. An undefeated season at this stage is rare air: the Explorers were the top seed in their district, opened the tournament with consecutive 8-0 wins, and have outscored their tournament opponents by a wide margin while recording shutouts in each of the last three rounds reported by the Beacon Journal.
The night is bigger than one match for Northeast Ohio. Strongsville, which blanked Medina 4-0 in the Division I Region 4 final behind two goals from Hadley Gerosky, according to the Beacon Journal, plays Upper Arlington in a Division I semifinal tonight at Clear Fork, with the Mustangs (14-3-3) looking to avenge nothing less than a regular-season loss to the same Medina team they eliminated. Medina’s season ended at 16-4-1 in that regional final, the Beacon Journal reported.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on: Hudson’s place in tonight’s semifinal, the 7 p.m. kickoff at Big Walnut and the championship date are all confirmed by the OHSAA pairings release. What is not yet known is how the Explorers’ unbeaten run holds up against a St. Ursula side that has already survived an overtime regional final — or which Northeast Ohio teams will be playing for state titles on Saturday. Those answers come tonight.
For Hudson’s players, the stakes are simple to state and hard to reach. One more win puts the Explorers in a state final for the second time in program history’s recent run, and keeps alive the possibility of an undefeated state championship season — something no score in the regional rounds suggests they should fear.
Tournament soccer rewards the teams that defend first, and Hudson’s recent form is built on exactly that: shutouts of North Ridgeville and Highland in the two rounds that decided the region, according to the Beacon Journal’s results. St. Ursula, by contrast, needed overtime to get here, and will have to solve a Hudson defense that has not conceded in the rounds reported this month.
Related coverage: the road to tonight ran through a crowded regional weekend — read how only three Stark County teams remain as the OHSAA playoffs reach the regional semifinals for more on this postseason across the area. It was the only directly related earlier article available in today’s coverage pull.
What happens next: Hudson and St. Ursula kick off at 7 p.m. tonight at Big Walnut High School. The winner advances to the Division II state championship game on Saturday, November 14, at 7 p.m. at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field in Columbus, per the OHSAA. Strongsville’s Division I semifinal against Upper Arlington is also tonight, at Clear Fork.
Photo: K.M. Klemencic, CC BY