2020 State Champion Trivia

[SirStanley]

With all three state champions (St. Ignatius, Howland, and Mariemont) going undefeated this season, I wondered how common that was. Not very. Since the inception of divisions (two in 1981; three in 2000)...it had never happened. In 1979, North Royalton went 21-0 in winning the state title. Since then, at least one boys state champion has had at least 1 loss.

I'm not sure how common this next point is, but it strikes me as pretty unusual. On the tournament road to the state championship this season, all three teams defeated both the team that had most recently beat them but also the team that had knocked them out of the tournament last season (Mariemont beat Botkins in this year's regional final after losing to them in the 2019 regional semis; Howland defeated Tippecanoe in the state final after losing to them in the 2019 state championship game; St. Ignatius defeated Medina in the state semifinal after most recently losing to them...in the 2018 state semifinal...and going undefeated the past two seasons).

Lastly (for now), all three state champions won their state finals by at least 3 goals. That's the first time this has happened since the start of three divisions. The last time this happened was in 1998 when Thomas Worthington in D1 and Alter in D2 each won game by scores of 3-0. I haven't looked, yet, but I think the state semifinals had similarly unusual lopsided results.

Not sure if anyone besides me cares about this, but I'm throwing it out there...

 

[BlackHawk]

With all three state champions (St. Ignatius, Howland, and Mariemont) going undefeated this season, I wondered how common that was. Not very. Since the inception of divisions (two in 1981; three in 2000)...it had never happened. In 1979, North Royalton went 21-0 in winning the state title. Since then, at least one boys state champion has had at least 1 loss.

I'm not sure how common this next point is, but it strikes me as pretty unusual. On the tournament road to the state championship this season, all three teams defeated both the team that had most recently beat them but also the team that had knocked them out of the tournament last season (Mariemont beat Botkins in this year's regional final after losing to them in the 2019 regional semis; Howland defeated Tippecanoe in the state final after losing to them in the 2019 state championship game; St. Ignatius defeated Medina in the state semifinal after most recently losing to them...in the 2018 state semifinal...and going undefeated the past two seasons).

Lastly (for now), all three state champions won their state finals by at least 3 goals. That's the first time this has happened since the start of three divisions. The last time this happened was in 1998 when Thomas Worthington in D1 and Alter in D2 each won game by scores of 3-0. I haven't looked, yet, but I think the state semifinals had similarly unusual lopsided results.

Not sure if anyone besides me cares about this, but I'm throwing it out there...

Nice post SirStanley.

I have one very minor correction...and it's very trivial. OHSAA's website has Alter beating Canal Fulton Northwest by a score of 3-0 in the 1998 D2 championship, but that score is an error. The final score was actually 3-1. I was at that game and Alter was winning convincingly 3-0 when they emptied their bench with about a minute to play. With about 20 seconds on the clock, a miscommunication between Alter's newly subbed keeper and a newly subbed defensive back led to an own goal and the final score was actually 3-1. Anyway, someone can correct me if my memory is wrong, but I'm pretty sure OHSAA has the score wrong.

How's that for some weird trivia?

 

[SirStanley]

Nice post SirStanley.

I have one very minor correction...and it's very trivial. OHSAA's website has Alter beating Canal Fulton Northwest by a score of 3-0 in the 1998 D2 championship, but that score is an error. The final score was actually 3-1. I was at that game and Alter was winning convincingly 3-0 when they emptied their bench with about a minute to play. With about 20 seconds on the clock, a miscommunication between Alter's newly subbed keeper and a newly subbed defensive back led to an own goal and the final score was actually 3-1. Anyway, someone can correct me if my memory is wrong, but I'm pretty sure OHSAA has the score wrong.

How's that for some weird trivia?

Believe it or not, I was at that game as well, BlackHawk (and Alter's much tighter regional championship win over Springfield Catholic that year)! Did Alter girls play that day as well? This was back before Crew Stadium was used, and you had to choose which state championship games you would go to at various big Columbus high schools. I had remembered Alter commanding that game but forgot that final goal (looks like I wasn't alone!). Thanks for stirring the memory!

 

[BlackHawk]

Believe it or not, I was at that game as well, BlackHawk (and Alter's much tighter regional championship win over Springfield Catholic that year)! Did Alter girls play that day as well? This was back before Crew Stadium was used, and you had to choose which state championship games you would go to at various big Columbus high schools. I had remembered Alter commanding that game but forgot that final goal (looks like I wasn't alone!). Thanks for stirring the memory!

Yes, if my memory is correct, Alter's girls lost a bit earlier in the day. I remember some of the girls fans showed up at the very end of the boys game to let us know the result. I think high-scoring Missy Gregg was on that Alter girls team, after she transferred from Centerville. OHSAA's website has Missy Gregg with the third most career goals of all time. But we all know how accurate their website is.

 

[Salad76]

With all three state champions (St. Ignatius, Howland, and Mariemont) going undefeated this season, I wondered how common that was. Not very. Since the inception of divisions (two in 1981; three in 2000)...it had never happened. In 1979, North Royalton went 21-0 in winning the state title. Since then, at least one boys state champion has had at least 1 loss.

I'm not sure how common this next point is, but it strikes me as pretty unusual. On the tournament road to the state championship this season, all three teams defeated both the team that had most recently beat them but also the team that had knocked them out of the tournament last season (Mariemont beat Botkins in this year's regional final after losing to them in the 2019 regional semis; Howland defeated Tippecanoe in the state final after losing to them in the 2019 state championship game; St. Ignatius defeated Medina in the state semifinal after most recently losing to them...in the 2018 state semifinal...and going undefeated the past two seasons).

Lastly (for now), all three state champions won their state finals by at least 3 goals. That's the first time this has happened since the start of three divisions. The last time this happened was in 1998 when Thomas Worthington in D1 and Alter in D2 each won game by scores of 3-0. I haven't looked, yet, but I think the state semifinals had similarly unusual lopsided results.

Not sure if anyone besides me cares about this, but I'm throwing it out there...

All very interesting observations.

The Iggy and Howland paths were on my radar as I live up North and am very familiar with both programs. I don't pay as much attention to the SW Ohio brackets.

The high scores I think were mostly a result of the styles of the teams in play. In each case I think a team playing not to lose was in trouble as soon as the first goal went in. Albany albeit much sooner than Tipp and Mooney who both gave up back breakers right before the half. I think if those 2 games get to half the results are much different. Mooney's resolve would have been strengthened by making it to half 0-0 and I think Howland would have felt some deja vu ha they went into the locker room scoreless.

Instead all 3 ended up being routes were the better offensive team each got a flurry of goals at different times that put the games out of reach.