The St. Ignatius Wildcats take down undefeated Archbishop Moeller in dramatic penalty shootout fashion 5-4.

What a season and playoff run by this St. Ignatius team. The team finished with a record of 17-3-3 while ending the season ranked 5th nationally.  Head Coach Mike McLaughlin wins another state championship as he wins his 13th. Senior Captain Nick Mikulec won his 2nd straight and was named on All-Ohio’s first team as Justis Olorunto and Marty McLaughlin earned 2nd team honors. St.Ignatius proved all the doubters wrong this year as this was supposedly a “rebuilding year” for the Wildcats. Never count out a Mike McLaughlin-coached St. Ignatius team from getting back to Historic Crew Stadium in November.

Archbishop Moeller was no easy opponent for the Wildcats as they were going into this game ranked ahead of St.Ignatius nationally and in the state. Moeller was 24-0 with 1 goal allowed the whole season. That 1 goal was a penalty kick in the 1st game of the season. Moeller took an early lead against St.Ignatius (14th minute) and held that lead throughout the game. St. Ignatius looked tremendously better in the 2nd half as they held possession, moved the ball, and created plenty of chances for themselves. Momentum was on St. Ignatius’s side as Senior Captain Nick Mikulec with 6 minutes left swung in a free kick to Bryce Ince-Lovelace to tie the game 1-1. It was more Mikulec magic just at the right time.

The game went to double overtime as neither team could score the golden goal to win. Overtime was much more balanced as the 2nd half felt like St. Ignatius controlled the flow of the game. In penalties, the Moeller goalie Austin Nowak made 1 save, and Colin Monroe for the Wildcats made 2 saves to seal the deal. That win put St. Ignatius ahead of Archbishop Moeller nationally as they dropped to 6th. This was the most difficult and impressive win St. Ignatius had all year.