Olentangy Orange boys soccer enters the OHSAA Division I postseason unbeaten and seeded No. 2 in the Central District.
The Pioneers (14-0-3), coached by Tony Diaz, host No. 23 Pickerington Central in a district semifinal Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. Defending state champion Dublin Jerome (14-2-1) holds the top seed, The Dispatch reported.
Orange reached the postseason without a loss after beating Bishop Watterson 5-3, Gahanna Lincoln 5-0 and Worthington Christian 5-2 during the regular season, cleveland.com noted in a statewide contenders breakdown.
Senior forward Seth Tedla has scored or assisted on 25 of Orange’s 61 goals, according to The Dispatch's player-of-the-year vote feature. Senior center midfielder Ethan Weiser has six goals and 14 assists. The 14 assists set a single-season program record. Diaz told The Dispatch that Weiser is "our attacking catalyst [who] presents a dynamic attacking threat when he has the ball at his feet."
The bracket itself was delayed. The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) and St. Charles High School have been locked in a legal dispute over the Cardinals' divisional placement. St. Charles acknowledged during the summer that a miscommunication in its athletic department caused it to miss the deadline to file an opt-up form that would have moved the program from Division II to Division I, the classification in which it had competed since 1992.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey M. Brown issued a seven-page decision allowing St. Charles to join Division I. The OHSAA filed an emergency appeal to the 10th District Court of Appeals two days later.
OHSAA director of media relations Tim Stried told The Dispatch on Oct. 16 that the association still hopes to win its appeal, adding that "several scenarios" remain in play depending on the outcome and where the tournament stands at that point. The draws for Divisions I and II statewide had been postponed six days because of the appeal.
With postseason play set to begin the week of Oct. 18, the bracket had to be released. St. Charles earned the No. 3 seed after a 13-3-1 regular season and hosts No. 25 Newark in a district semifinal Oct. 21.
St. Charles' inclusion expanded the Division I Central District field to 26 teams and also reshaped the Division II bracket, shifting a district champion slot from the Central District to the Northeast District.
Three other Olentangy schools are in the Division I bracket. As we reported Oct. 20, No. 10 Olentangy Berlin hosts No. 18 Westerville South. No. 4 Olentangy hosts No. 26 Westland in a district semifinal.
Defensive midfielder Mason Bogo, who returned to the lineup after a nine-month knee rehab, told the Delaware Source in September that the team's ambitions stretch beyond districts: "If we're able to do that, anything is possible … we could win states."
Orange's only previous state tournament appearance came in 2010, two seasons after the program started.
District finals are scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. at the higher-seeded team's home field. The district champion advances to the Region 1 tournament Nov. 4.
