St. Charles knocks off Cincinnati Moeller on penalty kicks
St. Charles and Moeller battled to a scoreless draw at Wright State before the Cardinals advanced to the Division I state final by edging Moeller 4-3 on penalty kicks scored by A.J. Boiarsky, Owen Sugar, Ryan Sullivan and Connor Evans.
St. Charles (13-3-4) will take on five-time defending state champion Cleveland St. Ignatius at 7 p.m. Sunday at Historic Crew Stadium.
Thomas Oliver, Tad Woolfe and Michael Stocks converted penalty kicks for Moeller.
“I’m proud of our fight,” Moeller coach Mike Welker said. “You leave it all on the field, you live with the result.”
Each goalie made one save in the first four rounds of penalty kicks.
In the fifth round, a shot by Moeller's Karson Lang hit the bottom of the crossbar, landed in front of the goal line and bounced away into the field of play for a miss.
St. Charles' chance by Evans also hit the bottom of the crossbar, but the ball ricocheted down, hit the crossbar again and bounced into the field of play. After a moment, the official ruled the ball had landed behind the goal line, and the Cardinals erupted in joy.
Moeller (18-1-3) has lost on the doorstep of a state title three years in a row. It lost in penalty kicks in last year’s championship game and in overtime in a 2022 state semifinal.
That game, against New Albany, was the last time Moeller lost a game that didn't end with penalty kicks.
–James Weber, Cincinnati Enquirer
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