ASHLAND — Jared McPeek was sitting in the stands during Mansfield Christian’s run to the Division III state championship game last fall. The freshman played a more active role Wednesday as the Flames moved within a game of a return trip to the Final Four.
McPeek scored off a Brandon Mount assist with 32:05 left in the first half and Mansfield Christian’s resurgent defense made the goal stand up in a 1-0 win over Elyria Catholic in the Division III regional semifinals at Community Stadium.
Mansfield Christian (16-2-2) will play Fort Jennings (12-5-4) for a regional title and a berth in next week’s state semifinals at noon Saturday in Findlay. Fort Jennings beat Swanton 2-0 at Tiffin Columbian on Wednesday.
“It was a great pass by Brandon Mount and I had the speed to beat the defender,” McPeek said of his 17th — and most important — goal of the season. “I took a couple of touches and put it in the right corner of the net.
“I went to every game last year, just cheering them and waiting for my opportunity to be on this field.”
Elyria Catholic (10-8-1) couldn’t get anything going in the first half, but was more offensive-minded in the second. The Panthers, who fell to MCS in last year’s regional semifinals, had a handful of scoring opportunities late in the second half but couldn’t net the equalizer thanks to the play of Mansfield Christian’s defense and sophomore goal keeper J.P. Trueblood.
“I relied on my defense. They definitely helped me out a lot,” Trueblood said. “We knew from our scouting report that they had scored three times in the last 20 minutes in their last game (a 4-0 Elyria Catholic win over Oberlin in the regional championship match). As soon as that clock hit 20 in the second half I knew they were stepping up.
“We had to step it up, too, so I just communicated with my guys and they did an overall fantastic job of limiting shots on goal. I had to come up big when they needed me and I’m glad that I could do it.”
Making Amends: By his own admission, Trueblood struggled in Mansfield Christian’s 4-2 win over Riverdale in last week’s district championship game.
“Before the Riverdale game I was nervous and my head was everywhere it shouldn’t be and I let two goals in,” Trueblood said. “Tonight I knew I had to focus in 100 percent on this game and be the player my team needs me to be.
“This was the most nervous I’ve ever been, but I think I handled it well. I’m just excited to get the win and contribute to the team.”
Full Strength: Mansfield Christian’s defensive struggles against Riverdale were due in part to the absence of Stevie Brown. The junior midfielder was nursing a sprained ankle.
“It’s good to have him back,” MCS coach Stephen Armstrong said. “In the air, he’s much more of a threat for us back there. He just did a great job of containing everybody back there.”
Contrast in Styles: Mansfield Christian’s hallmark crisp passing attack was on display in the first half. Elyria Catholic, meanwhile, tried to pick its spots and play the ball over the top.
“We knew we were more of a possessive team and they are more of a through-ball team because they’ve got wheels and that’s what they need to do. They execute very wel,” Armstrong said. “Fortunately for us we had Danny White on the back line and he took (Elyria Catholic’s high-scoring senior forward) Liam O’Halloran out of the game. Not very many people can do that.”
Don’t Wake Me Up: When asked if he ever imagined reaching the Elite Eight in his first season as head coach, Armstrong smiled.
“It was in my dreams,” he said. “We lost 12 seniors (from last year’s state runner-up team), but we had talent coming back.
We’re happy to be here, but there is still a lot we have to work on. Down the road, we’ve got more trouble coming at us.”
