by Uniontown, Ohio – The Bay Rockets used a strong second quarter to defeat the Hathaway Brown Blazers, 9-6, in the OHSAA Division II state semifinals at Green Memorial Stadium Wednesday night.
Both teams have had a lot of history between each other coming into the game, having won twice against one another in four years. The Blazers won last season’s semifinal matchup, 16-8, at Copley High School. The Rockets were looking for their first win over Hathaway Brown since 2024, when they won, 18-10.
Sophomore Hadley Clark put the Rockets in front, 1-0, early in the game. It didn’t take long for Hathaway Brown to respond, as Caroline Morgan evened the score with a goal of her own at the 8:38 mark. Junior Presley Napolitano gave the Blazers the lead, 2-1, just over a minute later. That would be all the scoring after one quarter.
Senior Layla Meaux scored a pair of goals within 23 seconds of each other, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Bay lead. Senior Avery Schreiner added to the Rocket lead with a goal less than 30 seconds later.
Bay would add one more goal for good measure, coming from junior Nolie Piktel at the 3:45 mark of the second quarter, taking a 5-2 lead at the half.
The third quarter did not feature much scoring, but Bay controlled the time of possession and used a strong defense to keep their lead. Napolitano added her second goal for Hathaway Brown to cut their deficit to 5-3. Meaux scored with 25 seconds left in the third to make the score 6-3 after three.
Meaux found the back of the net once more, pushing the Rocket lead to 7-3 with 10:34 left. Senior Gracie Fitzpatrick added a goal of her own to make the score 8-3. Hathaway Brown got a pair of goals from Eliza Taigen to cut their deficit to 8-5 with 6:29 left.
Each team scored once more for the final margin. Jill Tennant scored with 5:35 left for Bay, and sophomore Sofia Pace scored for Hathaway Brown with 4:14 left.
In addition to the four goals from Layla Meaux, the Rockets also got impressive goaltending from junior Sophia Crimaldi.
The Rockets advance to the OHSAA Division II state championship, where they will take on Columbus St. Francis DeSales. The Stallions prevailed over Mariemont, 14-13, in the other semifinal. That matchup will take place on Sunday, June 7th, at 4:00pm at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.
Extended highlights below:
