Girls district soccer: Columbia shuts out Columbiana to win Division V title

ROCKY RIVER — Once Columbia got its first goal, the rest came in bunches. The Raiders had dominated possession in the first half, but had nothing to show for it until the final 12 minutes when Natalie Miller finished a great cross from Ava Hopp. That icebreaker led to three more goals in the second half as Columbia defeated Columbiana 4-0 in the Division V, Northeast 1 final at Magnificat on Saturday. "We were doing really good, but we were struggling finishing at the beginning," Miller said. "We had a lot of passes and moved up the field really, really well. We knew it was coming and once we got that first goal we knew we were going to keep going and push more. We always get the momentum going after the first goal." No. 9 seeded Columbia (15-4-1) will face No. 1 Chippewa (19-1) in the Region 20 semifinals at Wooster high school on Tuesday at 7 p.m. No. 17 Columbiana finishes its season at 11-6-3. According to the school, it's the Raiders first district championship in girls soccer. "I don't think it feels real," Columbia coach Blaze Pratt said. "I played at Columbia, I graduated in 2014, so I've been playing for four years, so pretty much since 2009 until now I've seen every team. I've seen greatness, we've made it to the finals before, but to have a team that's gone through what this team has and win it 4-0, I'm just so proud of these girls. They've worked so hard and I'm so happy for them." Columbia dominated every facet of the game with 28 shots to Columbiana's nine. The Raiders put 14 on goal to just five for the Clippers, all saved by Columbia's freshman goalkeeper Gianna Stervagi. The Raiders first goal came on their ninth shot and fifth on goal. They were far more efficient in the second half as their first three shots on goal found the back of the net. Alyssa Goebel turned a beautiful cross less than five minutes into the second half, setting up Andrea McCall with an easy empty-net finish that gave Columbia a 2-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, sophomore defender Allison Boardman connected on a beautiful 45-yard goal that the defense could only watch loop in from behind. Boardman wasn't the only one who could finish from long distance as Miller joined the party with 15:50 left. Columbia had a couple of strong attempts get broken up before it could result in a shot, so Miller took matters into her own hands from 30 yards out. The sophomore turned, fired and found the back of the net to ice the match. "I definitely think after my goal we felt like we did it," said Boardman, who had attempted two other long-distance shots in the first half that just missed the mark. "All of our hard work came to something. Everything we've trained for, everything we've studied, everything we've done came down to this moment and just getting the gold medal is everything we worked for." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. Columbia 4, Columbiana 0 GOALS: (C) Natalie Miller (38th and 57th minutes), Andrea McCall (45th minute), Allison Boardman (46th minute) ASSISTS: (C) Ava Hopp, Alyssa Goebel SHOTS: Columbiana 9, Columbia 28 SHOTS ON GOAL: Columbiana 5, Columbia 14 SAVES: (CN) Kyla Hogan 10; (C) Gianna Stervagi 5 FOULS: Columbiana 6, Columbia 12 CORNER KICKS: Columbiana 1, Columbia 5 FREE KICKS: Columbiana 12, Columbia 6 GOAL KICKS: Columbiana 17, Columbia 5 HALFTIME: Columbia, 1-0