Eight seniors led Eastwood on historic four-year run

Eastwood girls soccer finished 20-1, won a Northern Buckeye Conference championship and reached the Division III regional final, losing to eventual state runner-up Ottawa-Glandorf, 4-2.

The Eagles outscored opponents by an accumulated 161-6, giving up only two goals all season prior to the matchup with O-G. Eight seniors on the team have been part of the best four years of girls soccer Eastwood has ever seen.   

Behind those seniors, the No. 2 ranked Eagles’ goal was to reach at least the state final four. However, O-G had a different plan. Three of the Titans’ four goals were on shots of 25 yards or further, two of them by sophomore midfielder Myka Aldrich. All three were well struck and perfectly placed just outside the reach of Eastwood freshman goalkeeper Jordan Jensen. 

Plus, the Eagles were without their first team All-Ohio standout Makenna Souder, a senior midfielder who missed the entire tournament because of a season ending injury. Plus, O-G (21-2) was well prepared and continued its tournament run into the state championship game, losing to Waynesville, 1-0, at Lower.com Stadium, home of the Columbus Crew.

“We had a little taste in the preseason tournament against them, so we knew they were big, they are fast and physical,” Eastwood coach Megan Rutherford said.

However, another goal was to defeat Liberty-Benton, which had ended the Eagles’ season the three years prior in the regional tournament. This year, senior forward Aubrey Haas, a career 100-plus goal scorer, scored twice to lead the Eagles to a 2-0 victory over L-B.

Her second goal came off a corner kick from senior midfielder Kaylynn Simon on a set piece similar to a goal Haas scored in a 2-0 win over Lake in the district final. Haas timed both CKs perfectly, one-timing them into the net.

“We’ve worked all season long, not overlooking our corner kicks, just capitalizing on those moments,” Haas said. “We believe in Kaylynn Simon, who takes all of our corners, knowing that she is going to place it and put us in the right position to score.

“It was just a flick of my foot. You just see the ball right there and you just hit it in the back of the net. There is no over thinking it. It’s just natural to place it in the back of the net,” Haas continued.

Down the stretch, the L-B Eagles began pressing as time started running out and play became physical. The Eagles were used to that.

“Those plays you’ve just got to focus on not retaliating, just sticking to playing our game. If it is going to get sloppy, don’t be the second one to give it back. Just stay to our game,” Haas said.

Rutherford added, “We talk about the mental side of the game. We are used to it. When we average eight goals a game and the other team averages 0.1, there is always a lot of frustration that comes from the other team where they decide to get physical. So, having that experience playing the physical teams — Liberty Center (12-0 Eastwood win), they are fast and physical, and Oak Harbor (9-0 win) was the same thing, so we got them on our schedule and it kind of prepared us for games like that where we have to get physical, and we have to keep our composure and stay focused.”

Souder finished with a school record 40 goals, followed by Haas (31), sophomore Delaine Zura (14) and seniors Sydney Ameling and Jada Jensen with 11 each. Simon led the team with a school record 37 assists, followed by Ameling (15) and Haas and Souder had 10 each.

More than anything, this team was about defense. Eastwood won 19 of 20 games prior to that by shutout with the only exception a 3-2 NBC win over Woodmore. Freshman goalkeeper Jordan Jensen, in 19 games, had 33 saves on 39 shots on goal (84.6 save percentage) and 17 shutouts. Sophomore Abby Rothenbuhler saved all eight shots she faced with a 100 percent save percentage and two shutouts. A lot of it had to do with Eastwood’s back line.

“It’s just about them staying patient, working around the back and not looking to play direct and just finding our feet and that’s what carried us,” Haas said.

Rutherford added her back line defense, “They are pretty solid and intelligent. It’s daily preparation, they watch film and they are students of the game. I mean, my goodness, when we are working on finishing or set pieces, we have our center backs back there waiting on a counter attack that is probably not going to come in a practice session. 

“So, their game planning, they are strategizing, they are going over how we are going to cover — things that we talk about, but they are running it through over and over again so that on game time they are confident. I mean, we’ve got sophomore and junior center backs, we have senior outside backs with a sophomore in there, and we’ve got a freshman goalie. Communication is key because we have varying levels of experience. So, they communicate — they over communicate,” Rutherford continued.

‘Quarterback’ Kaylynn Simon

Eastwood has five players on the Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press Team, but the selections are taken primarily from all-league voting, and comparing leagues can be like comparing apples to oranges. However, Simon is the player who probably makes the biggest difference to the offense and defense. She can dominate play at midfield, and that is important.

“It’s crucial because if we win up high, we can get forward in a counter attack, and if they are attacking we can get out of there so they don’t score,” Simon said.

Rutherford calls Simon, a first team All-Press choice, her “quarterback.” When Simon plays well, everyone plays well.

“We’ve got Kaylynn Simon who runs the show and makes sure everyone is in line,” Rutherford said. “Our center midfielders, (senior) Jada Jensen, (senior) Sydney Ameling and Makenna — they’ve been starting together for three straight years, and you can tell, they can really dominate play. It’s like they can read each other’s minds.”

Simon tied Hannah Montag’s record with most assists in a single game (6) and she now owns records for most assists in a season (37) and career (86).

Two Eastwood seniors have committed to play collegiately, but Rutherford says others “are interested and looking to find a home,” including Souder and Haas, who may also run track in college. Sydney Ameling will play at Ashland University and Kaylynn Simon at the University of Findlay, both NCAA Division II schools. The remaining seniors who were part of the four-year historic run include midfielder Addie Young and defenders Megan Graham and Mikayla Hoelter.

It is a no-brainer to name Rutherford the All-Press Coach of the Year. Under Rutherford, the program has taken off like gangbusters. In her first 12 seasons, Eastwood is an accumulated 152-45-16. Eastwood is the only place she has coached. She was hired at Eastwood right out of college, receiving the job offer at age 22 while finishing her student teaching at Van Buren. As a player she owned several school scoring records until Souder broke them.

Under Rutherford’s tutelage, the Eagles reached the D-II district championship in 2014 and reached the D-III district championship in 2016. Eastwood won seven sectional championships in eight years from 2013-2020, including two D-II titles (2013, 2014) and five D-III, missing out only in 2017. After that, it was on to bigger things.

In 2018 and 2019 the Eagles were NBC champions, D-III district champions and regional semifinalists. In 2020, the team was NBC champions, repeated as D-III district champions and regional runners-up. 

Coach Rutherford has been awarded Northwest District D-III Coach of the Year in 2018 and 2019, was awarded Ohio D-III Coach of the Year in 2019, and United Soccer Coaches Ohio High School Coach of the Year Small School Division in 2019.