Springboro girls soccer beats Walsh Jesuit in penalty shootout to win first state title

“I train and train and train on PKs,” Mitchell said. “I feel like at some point they’re going to be saved. It came down to one big moment and I needed to execute.”

Mitchell saved two shots in the shootout and her teammates were perfect from the penalty spot, beating the Cavaliers 4-2 to lift Springboro to its first state championship in school history.

Senior Tessa Blain, senior Sarah Beachy, junior Morgan DeMoss and freshman Keira Buckholtz each scored in the penalty shootout as Springboro won its 15th straight game and finished the season 21-1-1.

“It’s fantastic,” said Panthers coach Jamie Tipton. “We’ve been working and grinding, we did our homework coming into this game and we knew what we needed to do, but the team has consistently exceeded our expectations. They’ve played for each other and found ways to get the results. Today was no different. It’s another example of what we’ve done all season.”

Springboro nearly took the lead with two minutes remaining in the first half. Panthers senior Kendall Johnson beat Warriors keeper Ava DeBolt, but Springboro was called for offsides.

The teams played 80 scoreless minutes and two 15-minute overtime periods before the penalty shootout. Panthers junior goalkeeper Susan Schaaf had 11 saves, shutting out the Warriors in regulation for the first time since November of 2022.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Schaaf said. “I couldn’t have done it without the girls in front of me. It’s one of the better games that I’ve ever played. It’s awesome to have this atmosphere behind me. I went out there and had fun, it wasn’t anything that I put pressure on, it was fun to be out there and play. … All the credit goes to my defense. They played amazing and they really helped me out as much as they could.”

It was the 17th shutout of the season for the Panthers, led by Schaaf and their backline of Beachy, sophomore Baylee Cumbow, senior Lydia Gabbard, senior Kendall Johnson and junior Ellie Ulrich.

“It comes down to a full effort,” Tipton said. “Our shutouts are a reflection of how well our forwards work, how well our midfield works and our backline is solid. We defend with 11 players on the field and we attack with 11 players on the field. That’s what we ask of each other.”

Late in the second overtime, Mitchell — a penalty kick specialist — began preparing to go into the game for Schaaf. It was the first time she had ever come off the bench for a penalty shootout. Tipton didn’t hesitate to put the senior in net, she said.

“We knew that if we got into PKs Mitch is one of the best shot stoppers in the state,” Tipton said. “We knew if we got into PKs we would win because we had Mitch in goal. … She’s been preparing for this moment for the last four years. It’s a reflection of all the work she’s done up to this point. We knew that we just needed to tell her to have fun and do what she does. She’s a fantastic goalkeeper, a fantastic teammate and again today was just an opportunity to highlight those characteristics.”

Warriors senior Hannah Pachan and Blain each scored to open the shootout. On Walsh Jesuit’s second attempt, Mitchell saved junior Lauren Ziemianski’s shot. Beachy followed with a goal to give the Panthers a 2-1 advantage.

After goals by Walsh Jesuit sophomore Abby Witkiewicz and Morgan DeMoss, Mitchell leaped to her left, knocking senior Audrey Amsden’s shot out of the air.

With the score at 3-2, Buckholtz stepped to the penalty spot needing a goal to seal the state championship for Springboro. Mitchell handed her the ball with a simple message.

“She looked me in the eyes, smiled and said, ‘You got this’,” Buckholtz said. “‘You’re going to make this.’”

Buckholtz banged the ball into the right side of the net to seal the first-ever state championship for Springboro in any sport.

“It was definitely stressful, but I knew I was going to go up there and hit it into the back of the net,” Buckholtz said. “All of the time we’ve spent at practices and I’ve spent by myself just hitting the exact same spot, (I knew) I had nothing to worry about. You go up there, you don’t hear anything, you just focus in and hit the ball. It was an unbelievable feeling.”