Boy’s Division III

1. Springfield Catholic Central       8-1-0     98 pts (9)

2. Cincinnati Summit Country Day      7-1-1     80 pts (1)

3. Ottawa Hills                       7-1-0     69 pts

4. Worthington Christian              6-2-1     69 pts

5. Cincinnati Seven Hills             5-1-3     61 pts

6. Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas      9-0-1     56 pts

7. Kinsman Badger                     9-0-0     31 pts

8. Gates Mills Hawken                 6-2-0     27 pts

9. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy  5-3-1     15 pts

10. Doylestown Chippewa                6-0-2     13 pts

Receiving Votes: South Webster, Bloom Carroll,

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Cincinnati Maderia, West Muskingum

After their first win against Western Reserve Academy in 5 years last season, the Knights knew they would be in for a difficult contest. Coming into the game both teams sat undefeated and both teams looking for an opportunity to dethrone CVCA as the defending Tri County League champion. Unfortunately, in the 18th minute of the game a deflected clearance rolled behind the Knights backline and into the path of a Pioneer attacker inside the penalty box. Aquinas keeper Brandon Johnstin had little chance to make a save as Reserve went up 1-0. The game went into the half this way with Aquinas under quite a bit of pressure but still denying quality chances to their opponent. Again just ten minutes into the second half a Pioneer attacker struck a ball at the top of the box that took a deflection off of Senior Eric Palutsis and found its way into the bottom left corner of the net. The Knights however managed to make the game interesting as Sophomore Marcello Pavlek struck home an indirect free kick from inside the box with 15 minutes to go in the game. Aquinas then pushed more players forward to gain the equalizer when they were caught on the counter attack with three minutes left in the game to make the final score 3-1. Reserve was definitely the superior team this night and the boys must learn a quick lesson as they move to take on league and district rival CVCA Tuesday evening.

An unethusiastic first half contributed to the Knights offense being shutout for the first time this year. After virtually no quality chances in the first half the Aquinas lineup shifted putting Marcello Pavlek as the target player and shifting Ray Benedetti out wide. Despite continual pressure in the second half to score a goal there was not enough time and the Knights left the field knowing they failed to put the game away in the first half. The Waterloo Vikings played a strong game and were down three starters in their efforts.

Click This for State Poll Blurb In Canton Repository

Boy's Division III
 1.  Cincinnati Summit Country Day      6-0-1  98 pts (9)
 2.  Springfield Catholic Central       5-1-0  82 pts (1)
 3.  Ottawa Hills                       6-1-0  77 pts
 4.  Worthington Christian              4-2-1  62 pts
 5.  Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas      8-0-0  59 pts
 6.  Kinsman Badger                     8-0-0  41 pts
 7.  Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy  3-2-1  32 pts
     Gates Mills Hawken                 5-2-0  32 pts
 9.  Doylestown Chippewa                5-0-1  28 pts
10.  Cincinnati Mariemont               4-0-2  18 pts

Canton Repository Article

Aquinas 1 Minerva 0

Aquinas 1 St. Vincent St Mary 0

Since the 2006 season there has only been one team that the boys program at St. Thomas has not beaten. One team that always found a way to break down the Knights…until 2010. The boys pulled a stunning league upset against an undefeated and state ranked Irish team. Absorbing pressure early in the game, the Knights caught the Irish back line asleep when Jon Vignos delivered a perfectly placed pass over the top to on running Ray Benedetti. Ray then  lofted the finish over the onrushing goalkeeper and the crowd erupted while the Irish stared in disbelief.  Aquinas then went into counter attack mode, absorbing more and more pressure and looking to hit on the break. St V’s best chance came on a hard struck shot from outside the box midway through the second half. Brandon Johnstin made a diving save parrying the ball off the crossbar and down in front of goal. After a moment of confusion and colliding bodies Johnstin threw the ball between his legs to prevent the ball from going over the line and Senior defender Eric Palutsis cleared it to safety. After a breath of relief for the Knights, the boys held on for a hard earned 3 point league victory  bringing their record to 8-0.

Aquinas 1 Lake Center Christian 0

After a storm delayed the finish of the initial matchup, the Knights returned to Hartville to finish what they began. Facing an opposing team set on an upset, the game proved difficult for the Knights. Lake Centers athleticism up from caused Aquinas some problems defensively but a penalty kick goal by Marco Pavlek in the 17th minute of the match proved to be the winner. Coach Damien Marchione earned his 50th victory as head coach of the program with the win as well as being sent off with a red card with 30 seconds left in the match.

For the third straight season the Aquinas defense posted a clean sheet against Alliance. This time around the scoreline was 2-0. Frustrated going forward at times, the Knights found themselves in a tougher match than they were expecting. However resilient the Alliance defense was, the boys found a way to break it as Marco Pavlek scored a brace of goals and Brandon Johnstin posted his 5th shutout of the year. Aquinas continued their dominance over Stark County in the game continuing an unbeaten streak against Stark County opponents since September 2006.

Aquinas 3 Louisville 0

Marco Pavlek struck twice in his return game and Ray Benedetti added a late insurance goal as the Knights silenced the Leopards 3-0 at Sirpilla Stadium. After over a decade of never playing in the regular season, the match held extra significance especially with Louisville transfers Drew Kostiuk and Zach Hughes. However the quality of the Knights play was too much for Louisville’s direct approach and Aquinas came away with the win.

Aquinas 2  Marlington 0

Another match with local rivals took place at Sirpilla Stadium with Division II defending district champion Marlington as the Knights opponent. After falling to Aquinas 2-0 last season the Dukes were determined not to let it happen again. Unfortunately Marlington was given a lesson in counter attacking soccer for the evening. Conceding possession to Marlington, the Knights invited their opponent forward creating spaces behind their defense and hitting them on the break. Marco Pavlek scored an early goal off of a poor backpass and then he found Drew Kostiuk in the second half on a counter attack. Kostiuk’s goal was a moment of brilliance chipping Marlington’s keeper from the top left corner of the penalty area. The stingy Aquinas defense then told the rest of the story, depriving Marlington of space and chances to see out the game and post their 4th shutout of the season.

The boys posted back to back shutouts en route to downing one league opponent and one Stark County opponent. The scoring came often in these two matches which culminated in Seniors Eric Palutsis and Jon Vignos scoring goals. Senior goalkeeper Brandon Johnstin wasnt so lucky as he was denied his first career goal after putting his penalty kick straight down the middle of the goal. Senior Ray Benedetti brought his goal tally for the season to 4 to lead the Knights