The first night of the high school lacrosse state semifinals brought a few certainties.
Watterson’s boys will play for their second consecutive Division II state championship June 6, and the Division I girls final the next day will again feature two OCC-Central rivals.
The Upper Arlington girls (22-1) routed Springboro 18-5 in a semifinal June 2 at Mason, and the Golden Bears’ fifth final in a row will be a fourth straight clash with two-time defending champion Olentangy Liberty (19-3).
The Patriots edged Hudson 9-8 in overtime at Ashland, scoring the game’s final five goals despite being kept off the scoreboard for about 19 minutes from the second quarter into the fourth.
On the boys side, Watterson used a 6-0 third-quarter advantage to pull away to a 12-5 win over Cincinnati Mariemont at Centerville. The Eagles (18-2) will face Rocky River (19-0) at 4 p.m. June 6.
Liberty and UA face off at 1 p.m. June 7.
All state finals are at Historic Crew Stadium.
The Division I boys and Division II girls semifinals are June 3.
Here is a recap of the three state semifinals June 2 involving central Ohio teams:
Olentangy Liberty 9, Hudson 8 (OT)
ASHLAND – Liberty’s hopes of a three-peat lived on, and the Patriots hope to carry that momentum in yet another state final with UA.
Senior midfielder and Ohio State signee Megan Benton scored the last of her five goals with 2:13 left in overtime off an assist from Aubrey Bartosik, who tied the game at 8 with 18 seconds left in regulation.
To get back to the final, Liberty had to pull off a rally for the ages against Hudson (20-1).
The Patriots held a 4-2 edge going into halftime but got shut out for 18:52 from the middle of the second quarter to the fourth and went into the last quarter down four.
Eloise Pohmer scored back-to-back goals to bring it to a two-goal deficit with 6:55 left.
“We never gave up,” Patriots coach Tim Bosco said. “We lost the third quarter 6-0 and we very easily could have said this game was over, but we crawled back. That is kind of what this program has been built on, that grittiness and that toughness.”
Benton scored with 2:48 left, but it still looked like the Explorers were going to advance.
“Grittiness,” Benton said. “The last couple minutes of this game, I have never seen us fight like that before.”
Bartosik finished with two goals and three assists.
Liberty lost to UA 14-5 on April 14.
“We just have to go back to the basics, play simple and get all the ground balls,” Benton said. “[UA] is a good team but I think we can beat them if we just do everything we have to.”
–Brad Bournival, Akron Beacon Journal
Upper Arlington 18, Springboro 5
MASON – UA continued its semifinal success against southwest Ohio programs, taking out first-time state qualifier Springboro after knocking out Cincinnati Sycamore in the same round in 2022, 2023 and 2025 and Kings Mills Kings in 2024.
“We really play on playing for each other and believing in each other,” Bears coach Megan Sengelmann Strapp said. “It shows in our offense with having seven different goal scorers per game this season. Our defense [is] averaging under five goals a game this season. We’ve really played with that team mentality and it really shined today.”
Springboro got an early goal from Brogan Miracle and another from Mady Burns off a feed by Grace Dresher to cut UA’s lead to 3-2 over halfway through the first quarter. UA’s high-powered offense then found its footing, scoring four straight goals to end the period, including three by senior midfielder and Clemson signee Evie Ruma.
The Bears added on from there, holding Springboro scoreless over the final 11 minutes of the first half. It was fueled by strong play from junior goalie Tori Maurer, who thwarted multiple Springboro shot attempts.
“[Maurer] has been starting with us since she was a freshman. She’s looked at me like, ‘This is everything to me,’ ” Sengelmann Strapp said. “She played like it tonight.”
UA’s 6-0 run brought about a running clock after Ella Smith knifed through the Springboro defense in the waning seconds of the first half for her second goal of the night.
Ruma had five goals for UA. Claire Aimes and Rylan Clark each scored four times.
Springboro senior Ashley Filburn, who scored five goals in a regional championship win over Kings, notched her team-high 76th of the season in the third period.
Now comes the familiar championship rematch, in which the Bears will seek their first title since 2023.
“It’s always great to be at the top of the mountain, but we always say to look around and enjoy it,” Sengelmann Strapp said. “You just have to lean into this season because we’re one of the two best teams in the state. Why not have fun and play our best game?”
–Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer
Watterson 12, Cincinnati Mariemont 5
CENTERVILLE – A 10-4 win over Mariemont on April 11 did not offer Watterson coach Chris Sauter much comfort entering their state semifinal.
“They know how to hurt us when we make a mistake,” Sauter said. “We expected a 15-rounder.”
That is what the Eagles got throughout the first half before blowing the game open with a dominant third quarter.
The opening stalemate lasted until nearly the end of the first quarter as each team’s defense held firm. Finally, Mariemont’s Ethan Hern broke the ice with a long-range shot, kicking off a flurry of goals. Watterson got goals from senior Ryan Grimm and sophomore Dash Hoy, but the Warriors’ Vince Fiorina struck in the closing seconds to even the score.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the second, with Ben McClorey of Mariemont trading goals with Watterson’s Drew Dunlap. It seemed the teams might go into the break tied at 3, but Grimm was able to pick off a Will Haugh pass for an easy Eagles goal.
Watterson junior midfielder Joe Hayes, an Ohio State commit and All-American, said he felt his team came out slow.
“In the first half, the boys were playing a little scared, the moment was getting to us a bit,” Hayes said.
Watterson came out swinging after halftime with Dash Hoy scoring 33 seconds into the third quarter.
The Eagles dominated faceoffs to control possession nearly the entire quarter, pouring in five more goals to make it 10-3.
“You get to this point of the season and you want to take advantage of every opportunity,” Sauter said. “It’s stressful, but we know how blessed we are.”
–Chase Souder, Cincinnati Enquirer
The Dispatch high school sports staff can be reached at sports@dispatch.com and at @DispatchPreps on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: See which central Ohio lacrosse teams will play for OHSAA titles