BRUNSWICK — It was a repeat performance Tuesday night in the Division III regional semifinals — not the one Lake Ridge was hoping for.
For the second straight season, the Lions were ousted in the semis, and it came against the same opponent — Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas, which won a 2-0 decision at Brunswick High School. With the snow flying at varying intensities, the Knights (8-7-5) advanced to the regional title game, stopping Lake Ridge’s season at 15-3-2.
St. Thomas Aquinas defeated the Lions in last year’s regional semifinal, 2-1.
“I told my guys we outplayed them, we just didn’t outscore them,” said Lake Ridge coach Ryan MacRaild. “We controlled the game. We had decent opportunities. We just couldn’t capitalize.
“Adam Severs got kneed in the ribs early and that kind of took the wind out of his sails. He’s our leading scorer. We did everything we could. We moved guys around. We pushed up when we had to and it just went their way this evening, especially some of the bounces.”
St. Thomas Aquinas, above .500 for the first time this season, travels to Kent Roosevelt High School for the regional final Saturday afternoon against either Kinsman Badger or Gates Mills Hawken.
“(Lake Ridge is) a very good team and we’re really excited,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Damien Marchione. “We graduated nine seniors. We’ve got six starting sophomores and a really young group. We were still able to hang with a more mature, more physical team.”
Needing two scores late to draw even, the Lions pressured St. Thomas Aquinas goalkeeper Brandon Johnstin with a barrage of shots. In the final 19:25 of Lake Ridge’s season, the Lions registered seven shots on goal. However, Johnstin stopped them all to preserve his team’s sixth consecutive shutout.
“Their back four defenders are very organized,” MacRaild said. “They’re very well coached and move well together. (They’re) probably one of the best back four we’ve seen all year. Their goalie was fantastic. We just couldn’t get it in.”
“We take a ton of pride in our defense and organization,” Marchione said. “Those kids were tough players, quick players. Defense allows you to be in every single game. If we had come out too much going forward against a team like that, we would have been punished.
“This was (Johnstin’s) 19th career shutout as a sophomore. He’s going to be and is an excellent keeper, especially for his age. Technically, he’s one of the most gifted keepers I’ve seen. It was a compliment to our defense because we limited their chances, especially in the first half. When he had to make saves, he came through.”
The Knights showed early that they would not be intimidated. Less two minutes in, sophomore midfielder Robbie Hoerr outran Lake Ridge’s defense and fired a shot over Lions goalkeeper Dominic Velloze. Though the shot hit the crossbar, it set the tone for the game.
In the first half Lake Ridge proved to be its own worst enemy. As the Knights advanced the ball up the field, a Lions defender committed a foul just outside the box. St. Thomas Aquinas was awarded a free kick and made the most of the opportunity.
While Lake Ridge set up the wall in front of Velloze, Derek Walro calmly surveyed the defense. Instead of going over top of the wall, Walro sent the shot from the right side toward the far post and past Velloze.
“You score in the first half, it’s kind of intimidating,” Marchione said. “Knowing that they lost to us last year, that put their heads down a little bit and shifted the momentum in our direction.”
The Knights added to their lead with 24:44 remaining in regulation. As Lake Ridge attempted to clear the ball, Hoerr stepped in and put a shot on goal. Velloze initially made the save, but lost control of the ball and could not keep it from crossing the goal line.

St. Thomas Aquinas 2, Lake Ridge 0
GOALS: (STA) Derek Walro, Robbie Hoerr-1.
SHOTS ON GOAL: St. Thomas Aquinas 4, Lake Ridge 9.
SAVES: (STA) Brandon Johnstin 9, (LR) Dominic Velloze 2.
YELLOW CARDS: (LR) Sami Ibrahim and Evan Severs.
CORNERS: Lake Ridge 5.
HALFTIME: St. Thomas Aquinas, 1-0.
Contact Matt Florjancic at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

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