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Walsh Jesuit senior Alyson Smigel, left, scored twice on Saturday to lead the top-ranked Warriors to a 2-0 victory over Joanie Garcia and Revere in the Kent Division II District championship girls soccer match.

BATH TWP., Ohio – Veteran Walsh Jesuit girls soccer coach Dino McIntyre pleaded with his team to be ready for Revere in Saturday's Kent Division II District final.

“You can only do so much and then at the end of the day, it’s what you do in those 80 minutes,” said McIntyre, following a 2-0 win over the scrappy Minutemen.

Senior Alyson Smigel scored two first-half goals and the Warriors (17-0-2) put it on cruise control the rest of the way to win their 16th straight district title and extend a 34-match unbeaten streak.

“We were just very flat today, especially in the final third,” McIntyre said.

The defending national and state champions finished the regular season No. 1 in the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association (OSSCA) Division II poll.

“(Revere) was absolutely motivated,” Walsh senior defender Katie George said. “You could tell that they wanted this more than anything.

“It came to a point where I knew I needed to do my job and mark (Marissa Milazzo) and just not let her score because if that happened then their motivation would have overpowered anything else we had.”

Milazzo, a sophomore, and senior Amy Feher entered the match with 19 goals apiece for Revere.

“There’s always a target on our backs,” George said. “We always have to be afraid (our opponents) have more motivation than us and that they are going to do whatever it takes.”

The Minutemen were in that mode for most the match. Furthermore, the Revere sideline believed Smigel’s first goal at 26:13 should have been disallowed.

Smigel disagreed.

“I’m the kind of player that pressures everything no matter what,” Smigel said. “The goalie came out a little and we kind of bumped, but no one got it. So, I saw it, and I got back up and just kind of poked it and it went in.”

Revere junior goalkeeper Laurel Hursh felt she had control of the ball.

“It was a rough goal, but the woman coming on me, I had the ball in my hand and her cleat came up and hit me in the chest and she knocked the ball straight out of my hand, going backwards into the goal,” she said. “It was definitely a foul.

“It was very, very frustrating. I felt like I let my team down,” Hursh said. “But, everybody knew it was a foul, everybody saw it, except of course for the other team.

“I’ll be back next year. We’ll take it back to them next year.”

Then late in the half, Revere (13-3-3) had three consecutive corner kicks. Walsh took off on a counter attack after the third one and junior Renee Mirka pushed the ball up the left wing and crossed it perfectly to Smigel in the middle of the box for the finish at 2:33.

“The second goal was a beautiful counter attack,” McIntyre said. “You can’t describe it any better.”

First-year Revere coach David Howson was pleased with his team’s superior effort, but felt his girls needed to play better to gain the upset win.

“We worked hard, I think,” Howson said. “The thing that disappointed me a little bit was when we won possession of the ball we tended to give it away a little cheaply and not attack as much as I would have liked.

“I think both goals were questionable to be honest with you. I think the first one was possibly a foul on the goalkeeper and I think the second one was possibly offside.

“If we do enough on the field to win the game, then the referees’ calls don’t matter. Honestly, I don’t think we did enough on the field today.”

The Warriors advance to play Canfield in a regional semifinal on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Ravenna High School. 

Note: After missing most of the season to a hip injury, Walsh junior midfield standout Sandra Yu has been back in action most of the last three weeks. Yu earned ESPN Rise All-America notice in 2010 after collecting 18 goals and 17 assists for the national and state champion Warriors (19-1-3).

In another Division II district final:

ARCHBISHOP HOBAN 1, NORTON 1 (HOBAN WINS PKs 5-4). At Dowed Field, the Knights dominated the match statistically, but had to go to penalty kicks to edge a determined Norton side.

Senior Colleen Rosen scored in the first half for Hoban (11-5-3).

Katie Nagy scored a second-half goal for Norton (10-7-0).

Hoban junior Mackenzie Beke made three saves in goal, while Angela Pereira stopped eight shots for the Panthers.

Hoban won the PKs 5-4 to advance to Wednesday's regional semifinal.