Anthony Wayne will return to the state final at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus for the first time since 2019.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Anthony Wayne is on the verge of history as the Generals compete for a state championship Friday at 12 p.m. at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus. The Generals are the only remaining northwest Ohio girls soccer team left standing in the tournament in any division.
The team is playing for their first state championship in program history, in only their second state final appearance, the other being in 2019. The Generals face Hudson High School from Hudson, an Akron suburb. The Explorers previously won a state title in girls’ soccer in 2000.
“It means a lot, just knowing how we’ve been working hard this whole season and having a whole community behind our backs feels great,” senior forward Lila Simon said.
The Generals arrived at the state final after a five-round tournament run that began back on Oct. 20 with an 8-0 mercy rule win over Southview. The team nearly followed that up with another mercy rule victory, by defeating Ashland 7-0 to claim the district title.
In the regional tournament, Anthony Wayne won their semifinal match by defeating fellow northwest Ohio rival St. Ursula 2-1. In the regional final, the Generals trailed Avon on two separate occasions before tying the game.
The first equalizer came via a penalty kick by Simon, a Kent State commit, in the final 30 seconds of the first half. The other came from junior Kelsey Borcherdt scored in the final ten minutes of regulation and sent the game to overtime.
Eleanor Cherolis’ OT goal would give the team the regional championship, sending them to their first state semifinal appearance since 2021.
In the state semifinals, the Generals faced Cincinnati’s Anderson High School. Simon’s goal in the 14th minute would turn out to be the lone goal of the game, as Anthony Wayne held on to win 1-0 and advance to the team’s first state final appearance since 2019, and only second in program history.
“This is the goal that the girls set at the beginning of the season,” head coach Lori Williams said. “We knew that we had a special group of kids, but you’ve got to get a little lucky. You’ve got to have kids that want to play for their seniors, and all the things that fall into line.”
In 2019, the Generals advanced to the DI state final, where the team fell to Lakota West 2-1 after a goal in the final 13 seconds by then-future Buckeye and professional footballer Kailyn Dudukovich.
This article was published by Chase Bachman on 2025-11-07 00:19:00
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