MIDDLETOWN - Yesterday the Fairmont Men's Soccer Team defeated St. Xavier High School to earn their second Regional Championship in the program’s 54-year history. Man-of-the-match Junior goalkeeper Carson Dewald was sublime in every way and was the bedrock of the Birds’ victory. Both teams moved the ball well in possession, but the defenses were stingy, giving up few scoring opportunities. Dewald’s first test came
in the seventh minute with a reflexive save from close range. One minute later the Birds tested the Bombers’ keeper and in the thirteenth minute he also saved Luke Davidson’s close-range header. Fairmont had two corner kicks to the Bomber’s lone corner, and the teams ended the first half goalless.

The Birds had a good look at goal in the forty-third minute, but the keeper saved. In the forty-sixth minute, Gavin Weaver was called for a foul on the lightest of challenges, setting up a freekick from twenty yards on the left side of the box. As the four-man wall jumped to cover the left side of the goal, the Bombers’ senior forward struck the ball low and hard into the net. Dewald kept the score close with a big save in the fiftieth minute and saved again at the near most from the ensuing corner. Following that sequence, Fairmont was fully engaged in attack mode in search of the tying goal. Tresor Shaka was his typical dominant force in the midfield and in the fifty-sixth minute whistled a shot just over the bar.
In the sixty-second minute Nassim Hennaoui fought for the ball inside the Bombers’ penalty area but could only get his shot off straight at the keeper. The Birds’ relentless attack paid off in sixty-seventh minute when Luke Davidson heaved a throw-in into the box and Shaka got the slightest of touches to beat the keeper. Azariyah Nsabimana was his usual self, beating defenders at will, and in the seventy-sixth minute missed his shot wide left of the goal. One minute later Weaver found Davidson’s head on a corner, but the center back missed high and wide. In the final minute of regulation, the referee gave Sweeney a yellow card for a knee to the head of Noah Baumgarten and the buzzer sounded with the teams deadlocked at a goal apiece.

Dewald made another save in the eighty-seventh minute of the first period of overtime and the Bombers wasted a corner kick opportunity when they decided to substitute players with fifteen seconds
left. Lethargy and tired legs began to catch up to the players during the second overtime period. Dewald registered another save and Weaver took a shot at goal in the ninety-ninth minute that went inches over the
crossbar. The final whistle blew with the teams deadlocked at 1-1 to force penalties.

Fairmont won the coin toss and elected to shoot first. Weaver converted, Freddy Irakoze hit the crossbar, and Aaron Black, Nassim Hennaoui, and Luke Davidson converted. Dewald saved senior forward Jack Sweeney’s kick to his left, and although the next three converted from the spot, Dewald got a paw on two of them. With the game on the line, Dewald made a strong, right-handed save from the Bombers’ senior midfielder DiCristofaro, sending the Birds to their first final four in 20 years.

The Firebirds play Strongsville High School on Wednesday, November 11th at Westerville Central High School in Columbus at 7:00 p.m. for a chance at their first state title. Go Birds!