Seven soccer teams from the region have qualified for the playoffs and all will start their journey in the first round on Friday.
West Branch, Beaver Local, South Range and Southern Local will host games while Salem, United and Lisbon will be on the road.
West Branch (9-1) highlights Div. IV, Region 13 as the Warriors top the table for the second straight season. West Branch will host No. 16 seed Mogadore Field (4-6) in the first round. The Falcons haven’t beaten a team with winning records this season. It’s Field’s first appearance in the playoffs since 2014.
Beaver Local (8-2) rallied to stun Wheeling Central Catholic on Friday and earned second place in the Div. IV, Region 13. Beaver Local hosts Akron Coventry (5-5) in the first round. The Comets have lost five of their last seven games this season.
Outside of a 2020 home playoff game in an all-team eligible format, the Beavers are hosting their first playoff game since 2004.
Salem (6-4) brought West Branch to the wire Saturday and nearly earned a home playoff game in the Div. IV, Region 13. Instead, the Quakers meet old Eastern Buckeye Conference opponents Canton South (7-3) in the first round of the playoffs.
The Wildcats lost 35-32 to Salem a year ago in a regular season meetup. Junior quarterback Poochie Snyer has thrown for over 2,700 yards this season.
In Dept. V, Region 17, South Range (10-0) has earned the top seed and will receive No. 16 seed Youngstown Liberty (4-5) in the first round. All of Liberty’s wins came against teams with three wins or fewer.
United (8-2) is the lone territory team to qualify for the playoffs in Div. VI, Region 21. The 9th-seeded Eagles travel to Rootstown (7-3) to face running back Cody Coontz and the Rovers. Coontz is one of the best running backs in the state, having rushed for 2,311 yards and 28 touchdowns this season.
Southern Local (9-1) has a chance to host a playoff game on back-to-back Fridays as the Indians are No. 4 in Div. VII, Region 25. Southern will receive No. 13 seed South Central (4-6) in the opening round.
The 13th-seeded Trojans made their first playoff appearance during the 2020 free-for-all, but returned in a more traditional format last season.
No. 12 seeded Lisbon (5-5) has a long journey ahead of them as they take on No. 5 seeded Norwalk St Paul (7-3) for their first round match in Divison. VII, region 25.
This is the 24th playoff appearance for St. Paul. Like Lisbon, St. Paul also has a state title.
Tickets for the tournament games are $8 for students and $10 for adults. All must be purchased through ohsaa.org/tickets.
