COLUMBUS — Mercy's first appearance in the Division I soccer state championship game turned into a grudge match Saturday between Hudson's Mary Boland and the Mercy defense, starring goalkeeper Angie Heintz.

        The relentless Boland prevailed, scoring goals with 5:34 and 3:49 left in the game to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory for the Lady Explorers before a crowd of 1,803 at Columbus Crew Stadium.

        Boland found room in a scramble in front of the Mercy goal following a corner kick, and her left-footed shot into the bottom left corner of the net tied the game.

        Less than two minutes later, she broke away and scored from 6 yards away to give Hudson, ranked No.1 in the state coaches poll, its first state championship in its third appearance in the title game.

        “She's an excellent player,” Mercy coach Mike Roth said of Boland. “We knew that she was their go-to player. She does things out there that are pretty amazing.”

        Mercy finished 16-4-3. Hudson, which lost to Lakota West in last year's championship game, finished with a 20-1-2 record.

        Katie Lowstuter, Mercy's junior striker, scored 16 seconds into the game when Hudson junior goalkeeper Molly Patterson lost her grip on the ball after making a diving stop of Angie Scarlato's crossing pass from the left side. The ball came loose in front of the open goal, and Lowstuter left-footed it in from 6 yards out. The shot was the only one by Mercy in the first half and one of eight in the game, just three on goal.

        A second Mercy goal was waved off when Rita Vogelpohl was called offside before she rolled a shot past Patterson with 24:35 left in the game.

        Mercy's Heintz made 11 saves.

        Goals: H — M. Boland 2. M — Lowstuter. Records: H 20-1-2, M 16-4-3.

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