November 2, 2010

2010 State Field Hockey Tournament Preview

The 2010 OHSAA State Field Hockey Tournament will be held this weekend at Upper Arlington High School.  The two seminal games will be held Friday Nov. 5, with the championship game taking place at 1 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 6.

Gahanna Columbus Academy (19-0-0) will face off against Worthington Thomas Worthington (16-1-2) in the first semifinal game at 12 p.m.

The second semifinal game has Cincinnati St. Ursula (12-5-1) taking on Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown (16-1-1) at 2:30 p.m.

The undefeated Vikings of Gahanna Columbus Academy enter the state tournament after posting their closest victory of the qualifying tournament, a 1-0 win over Bexley.  The first two rounds of the tournament were both 12-0 routs in favor of the Vikings over Worthington Kilbourne and Lewis Center Olentangy.  The Vikings have allowed goals in only seven of their 19 games.

Thomas Worthington comes into the state tournament having posted narrow 1-0 victories over Toledo Ottawa Hills and defending state champion Columbus Bishop Watterson in the previous two rounds.  The first round victory was a 6-0 handling of Granville.  The Cardinals have a relatively young lineup intact, with 11 of the 20 players on the roster being freshmen or sophomores.  That same youth has given up only seven goals all season, the fewest of all semifinalist teams.

The jumpstart Bulldogs of Cincinnati St. Ursula have earned a trip to the state semifinals for the second year in a row, and the second time in program history.  After a relatively sluggish start to the season, in which St. Ursula lost three of its first five games, the Bulldogs got their bite back and have rallied to get back to where they left off last season.  Second-year head coach Sarah Catlin is hoping the Bulldogs  are hungry enough to advance to the state finals for the first time ever.

Hathaway Brown blazed through the first two rounds of the qualifying tournament before facing its closest game of the year, in a tight 5-4 win over Hudson.  The Blazers are also in the state semifinals for the second year in a row, and the seventh time in the last eight years.  There are only six seniors and four juniors on Hathaway Brown�s roster, but they all remember the feeling of hoisting the championship trophy in 2008, and are determined to do it again.

By Brad Pettiford, OHSAA Sports Information Intern, [email protected]

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