Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County New
Beavercreek senior Jonathon Guiliano (left) celebrates after scoring on a penalty during his team’s 2-0 win against Mason in the Division I regional semifinals on Wednesday at Miamisburg’s Holland Field.
Junior Austin Brenner (2) finds a corner kick with his head to score the opening goal of Wednesday’s match.
Mason’s Marcos Neto (14), the team’s top goal scorer this season, is surrounded by Beavercreek defenders.
MIAMISBURG — Beavercreek knew it has continually proved this season it could play with anyone.
It was only 18 days prior to Wednesday’s matchup that the Beavers faced Mason and did not allow a goal in a scoreless draw to end the regular season.
When the two met again in the Division I regional semifinals, Beavercreek again finished with a clean sheet but this time came away with a win.
The Beavers defeated the Comets 2-0 at Miamisburg’s Holland Field, handing the Comets its only loss of the season, and now will advance to Sunday’s regional final for the first time since the 2017 season.
“Two years ago these guys ended our season,” Josiah Rodriguez said. “It means a lot to get here after the team has came a long way and we’ve been playing and working every single day.”
Beavercreek (16-0-4) controlled the action to beat Mason in its fourth attempt over the past three seasons.
Logan Smith of Mason ranked second in the Greater Miami Conference with 9.5 shutouts this year, but Beavercreek quickly made it so he wouldn’t have another notched in his ledger. Austin Brenner headed in a corner kick sent across the net by and over Smith’s leaping attempt to knock the ball away, putting the Beavers after eight minutes.
“A huge goal,” head coach Jason Guiliano said. “We’ve been working on set pieces lately and coaches thought we were due for one. Austin got in a great spot and got a great goal for us.”
Beavercreek maintained its attacking pressure through the remainder of the opening half without adding on. Mason began to return the favor after the break and finally forced Isaac Kolaczkowski to make some of his three saves on the night on a pair of shots near the box.
The best defense for the Beavers was getting back on the attack. And a counterattack that quickly provided relief for its keeper turned into the scoring opportunity.
A penalty was called on Mason and Jonathon Guiliano got the nod to take the kick. With 33:56 remaining he struck his shot into the right side of the net as Smith guessed wrong the direction. He ran to the near corner in celebration as his teammates raced from the bench to meet him.
“It set up everything right there,” Rodriguez said. “That set the tone for the rest of the match.”
The Comets weren’t able to get a quality chance for the rest of the match, beginning to take shots attempts from well above the box to try and generate any sort of offense with about 15 minutes remaining. Beavercreek eventually packed in it with all 11 staying on its own side of the field in the final five minutes to help the clock run out.
“Mason is super technical and we didn’t want to give them a whole lot of time and space,” Jason said. “We knew if gave them that space they could potentially pick us apart.”
Sunday’s regional final will be the first appearance for the Beavers since it won the state title in 2017. Awaiting them will be Cincinnati Moeller, currently ranked No. 1 in the state MaxPreps rankings for D-I teams, the runner-up in last year’s state tournament and the team that eliminated Beavercreek a year ago.
The match will start at noon and be played at Alumni Stadium in Centerville.
“Moeller has obviously been one of the top programs in the state for the last few years,” Jason said. “They’ve done a great job of building themselves and it’s going to be a good test.”
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
