Megan Klingerman’23 lines up a pass. Regan Cornelius’21 weaves through defenders. Mya Falkenhain’22 and Sarah Klingerman’21 fight for the ball. (Courtesy/Mark L’Hommedieu)

On Tuesday, October 27, our girls took Carlin Field to play in the Central 1 district semi-finals against Olentangy Orange. As expected, the one-seed Vikings overwhelmed the eight-seed Orange in a 7-0 shutout win which sent the team to the district finals in a rematch of the Cornelius “sister showdown” against four-seed New Albany.

On Halloween day, Academy won the district championship and advanced to the state semifinals against four-seed New Albany Eagles that Academy beat 4-0 in regular season. 

New Albany had the same semifinal ambitions, so the game was tight with stellar defense from both sides leading to a low-scoring, high intensity match. New Albany kept the Vikes playing on the back foot for the first-half. 

New Albany crowded the ball to keep Academy’s players quiet, so our girls had to adjust to this throughout the game. Academy dominated the play, but the squad’s shots were ineffective and infrequent because of New Albany flooding the circle. 

In the third quarter, though, Academy was granted a corner and made the most of it. Avery Mitchell’22 inserted to senior Regan Cornelius, who passed it to junior Carolyn Vaziri, whorocketed a shot at the goal’s far post as Mitchell tapped it in to score. 

The team went crazy, to say the least, and played the rest of the game with lockdown defense, collectively holding off the Eagles to seal Academy’s spot in the state semifinals.

Our girls will head to Thomas Worthington on Thursday, November 5, to face off against Bishop Watterson, who beat Thomas Worthington in districts in a rematch of the team’s only defeat this season. The winner battles the victor of Hudson and Indian Hill’s matchup for the state title on Saturday, November 7.