Turpin players celebrate. (Ernest Coleman photos) | ZOOM |

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        COLUMBUS — The players on the Turpin boys soccer team were disappointed to learn last May that they had dropped from Ohio's Division I to the smaller-school Division II this season.

        They were much happier about it Friday after beating Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit 4-0 in the state championship game at Columbus Crew Stadium. The state title is the second for the Spartans in two championship game appearances.

        “There was so much pressure,” Turpin coach John Basalyga said. “We were expected to be the best team in Cincinnati. Then, we drop down to Division II, and it's supposed to be no contest.

        “The kids weren't happy about it at first. They were whining about it, like high school kids will do. I asked them the other day if they'd rather be back in Division I, and they were like, "No way.'”

David Gajus shoots. | ZOOM |

        “This is awesome,” said junior striker Marc Burch, who scored two second-half goals to finish the season with 39.

        Basalyga had good feelings about the outcome going into the game, he said.

        “This has been the funkiest day,” he said. “The last time we were up here (1986), it was cloudy and dreary and cold, just like today. We played the same team that we played today. They were coached by the same guy who was coaching today. Then I looked out before the game and saw that we had the same center official today that we had back then.”

        Still ...

        “You don't anticipate a 4-0 win in a state championship game — not in your wildest dreams,” Basalyga said. “We were just hoping to keep it close.”

        Turpin finished the season 19-2-2. Walsh closed 17-5-1.

Marc Burch scored two goals. | ZOOM |

        Burch's two goals gave him 17 in the tournament to add to his school-record total.

        He also played a role in the bizarre goal that gave Turpin an early 1-0 lead. The Spartans and Warriors had played just more than eight minutes when senior defender David Gajus knocked the ball into Walsh Jesuit's goal box. A Warriors defender headed the ball backward toward his own goal, where Burch was being marked by another defender.

        Walsh Jesuit sophomore goalkeeper Adam Sleyzack moved out to play the ball, but he misjudged it. It caromed off the back of his leg and trickled over the goal line.

        “I went up with (Sleyzack) to try to distract him,” Burch said. “I was trying to get him to misread it.”

        Junior midfielder Jason Seibert made it 2-0 by scoring from 10 yards out on a pass from the left wing by another junior midfielder, Zach Scheel, with 23:07 left in the game. Burch worked his way through traffic and scored into the right corner with 8:26 left, and he boomed one into the same corner from 30 yards out with 3:56 left.

Turpin goal Mike Vessells makes a save. | ZOOM |

        “When we score the second goal, we don't think defense,” Basalyga said. “That third goal is a back-breaker.”

        Basalyga believed Turpin's conditioning played a role in the Spartans' second-half surge, especially on the large field (115 yards by 75 yards).

        “I think they had more skills and speed than us,” Burch said after indulging in a tradition by joining his teammates in leaving teeth marks in the state championship trophy.

        Mike Vessells had five saves in recording his 14th shutout of the season, including four in six tournament games. The Turpin defense turned aside 13 shots in the second half while shutting down a Warriors team that had scored five or more goals in four of its previous five tournament games.

        “Defense has been our key all year long,” Basalyga said.

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Complete prep football coverage Enquirer.com/prepfootball SULLIVAN: Tour better keep Tiger happy UCLA drops Kentucky to 0-2 Coles: Miami can learn more from scrimmage NKU opens with victory Miami catches Marshall at good time Ohio St. hopes to run to win Turpin boys win state soccer title MND goes for state volleyball three-peat Colerain 35, St. Xavier 30 Piqua 28, Loveland 17 Vandalia Butler 31, Edgewood 14 Wyoming 20, Blanchester 12 Elder, Fairfield expect tight game Bellevue 36, Nicholas Co. 9 Delta 28, East Central 14 Harrison Co. 42, Holmes 28 Highlands 49, Covington Catholic 27 Louisville Trinity 35, Ryle 3 Newport Central Catholic 17, Beechwood 14 Cyclones 4, Chicago 2 Lowell 5, Mighty Ducks 4

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