Luca Fusillo of Shawnee celebrates after scoring a goal against Perkins at Bowling Green High School on Wednesday night.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
BOWLING GREEN — When Shawnee is in sync, it’s only a matter of time before they score. And when they score, it usually comes in bunches.
Perkins discovered that the hard way on Wednesday night in a Division III Regional Semifinal at Bowling Green High School when the Indians netted a pair of first-half goals and continued to add on in the second half, leading to a 6-0 victory.
“Tonight we just did what we’ve been practicing,” Shawnee coach Jason Hoehn said. “We moved the ball well and we wanted to make sure we passed it well and switched the field. Our guys did everything we asked them to do.”
It was as simple as that. Shawnee made solid passes, controlled field position and created a number of scoring opportunities inside the box. Eventually, it all paid off.
At the 25:15 mark of the first half, Luca Fusillo beat Perkins keeper Danny Buga to break the scoreless tie. Fusillo set the tone on Wednesday night, as he has all season long, scoring the first goal of the night and the first goal of the second half, which effectively put the game away.
“Luca’s an engine that helps drive the team,” Hoehn said. “When he’s putting that energy in, everyone else feeds off it and it gets everyone else going.”
Noah Schied made it 2-0 Shawnee with just over 10 minutes left in the first half when he played a ball into the net that first deflected off a head, then a Perkins defender.
The second half turned out to be more of the same story.
Fusillo scored at the 34:19 mark, Caleb Miller smashed a goal into the top of the net less than a minute later, and then Schied and Connor Hoops added some insurance in the final 16 minutes.
Shawnee fired 12 shots on goal while Perkins managed to get just one shot off.
Perkins concluded its season with a record of 16-4-1.
With the win, Shawnee moves one game away from State. The only team that remains in the way is Mentor Lake Catholic, who defeated Avon Lake 3-2 on Wednesday. The two teams square off on Sunday at noon.
“Every game we play from here on out is the most important game of the season,” Hoehn said. “We’re just going to keep playing our game and we’ll plan for who we’re going to see when we know who that is.
“Five of these guys were on the state championship team, so they know what it takes to win. They know what the grind is going to be like and that’s very valuable this time of year.”
Box score
SH 2 4 — 6
SP 0 0 — 0
Scoring Summary
SH — Luca Fusillo — 25:15, 1st
SH — Noah Schied — 10:33, 1st
SH — Luca Fusillo — 34:19, 2nd
SH — Caleb Miller — 33:26, 2nd
SH — Noah Schied — 16:37, 2nd
SH — Connor Hoops — 8:09, 2nd
Shots on goal
SH 12, SP 1
Saves
SH 1, SP 6
Corner kicks
SH 7, SP 1
Free kicks
SH 7, SP 7
Goal kicks
SH 4, SP 15
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
