Ottawa Hills is a state champion. The Green Bears beat previously unbeaten Chippewa 2-1 on Friday, November 13, at Scotts Miracle-Gro Field in Columbus to win the OHSAA Division V girls soccer state championship, according to The Daily Record’s live reporting from the final.
The matchup paired two very different histories. Chippewa arrived at 21-0-1, playing in its third consecutive Division V state championship game and still chasing the first girls soccer state title in school history, The Daily Record reported. Ottawa Hills came in at 17-3-2, in the state final for the first time after BCSN reported the Green Bears had reached the state Final Four for the first time this season, then advanced past Columbus Academy on penalty kicks in the semifinals.
Chippewa pressed first. Delaney Marshall made an early run down the left flank and played the ball to Alaina Henthorn in the box, where an Ottawa Hills defender blocked it for a corner, and Marshall later sent a second ball into the box with no one there to finish it, according to The Daily Record’s live updates. The first 32 minutes stayed scoreless, and a shot by Chippewa’s Emme Donnelly was caught by the Ottawa Hills goalkeeper.
The breakthrough belonged to the Green Bears. Ottawa Hills midfielder Kendell Skiver took the ball at the edge of the box with Addison Jablon defending, turned, and shot it over goalkeeper Gianna Neely for a goal, The Daily Record reported. Marshall answered with a shot from outside the box that sailed over the crossbar, and Chippewa went to halftime trailing for the first time on the day, 1-0.
Ottawa Hills struck again almost immediately after the break. One minute into the second half, a low Marshall cross found Donnelly at the near post, and her left-footed effort was blocked, according to The Daily Record. Three minutes later, midfielder Ashleigh Speakman scored for the Green Bears to make it 2-0, a two-goal cushion in a state final against a team that had conceded only a handful of goals all season.
Chippewa refused to fold. Marshall touched the ball in midfield, dribbled right and crossed it into the box, where Henthorn slid in and tapped the ball in for a goal with 28 minutes left, cutting the Ottawa Hills lead to 2-1, The Daily Record reported. Both teams threatened from there, and with five minutes left Marshall slid a pass through the middle for a Henthorn shot that missed, the Chipps’ last clear look at an equalizer.
The final whistle made it official: Ottawa Hills 2, Chippewa 1. The Green Bears finish 18-3-2 with a state championship won against the division’s dominant program of the last three years, while Chippewa closes at 21-1-1, its only loss coming in a third straight trip to the final, still without the title it came to Columbus to win.
That is what makes the two goals Ottawa Hills scored so striking. Chippewa built its run to a third straight final on defense: the Chipps recorded their 20th shutout of the season in the 3-0 semifinal win over Berlin Hiland, after conceding only five goals all season heading into the regional final, according to The Daily Record’s earlier reporting on the Chipps’ tournament run. Ottawa Hills needed barely 35 minutes of the final to score twice against that defense.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed by The Daily Record’s live reporting is the full scoring sequence — Skiver in the first half, Speakman early in the second, Henthorn’s reply with 28 minutes remaining — and the 2-1 final. Official OHSAA championship records and any all-tournament honors had not yet been published when this story was written, and NewsForce247 will add them here when they are released rather than guess at them.
The title caps a championship Friday for northwest Ohio athletics, on the same day Toledo swept the NCAA Great Lakes Regional cross country titles, and it lands alongside another state final in Columbus this weekend, the all-Cincinnati Division I volleyball final between Seton and St. Ursula.
What happens next is a celebration in the village: a first-time state finalist is coming home from Columbus as a state champion, with a trophy that ends Chippewa’s run of finals appearances by beating the Chipps in the game that matters most. For Chippewa, the wait for a first title extends to a fourth year — with a senior core that has now played in three straight finals as the standard it will try to carry forward.
Photo: MrJacon000, CC BY-SA