By Greg Billing for the Dayton Daily News

Just how impressive is Carroll's 19th straight Mid-Miami League boys soccer title, all without a loss? Very, considering what Patriots' coach Scott Molfenter told his team after Tuesday's 7-0 win over Springboro.

"It's pretty neat. That's what I was telling the kids," Molfenter said, "I congratulated them for finishing off something that was started before they were born."

Carroll (14-0, 12-0 MML through Oct. 4), which moves into the Greater Catholic League next season, capped that title streak at 142-0-6. The closest a team came to snapping the unbeaten streak this season was Lebanon, a 5-1 loser. The Patriots outscored their MML opponents 92-5. They outscored all their opponents 103-6 (entering Thursday's nonleague game with Alter).

"I know none of the kids wanted to be the ones to have it end," said Molfenter, 214-36-18 in 14 seasons at Carroll. "It's something we never talked about. It's not something we brought up. It's one of those things that year after year it continued. It's a true accomplishment for all those guys who came through the program."

Carroll, which concludes the regular season against Worthing Kilbourne on Saturday, is primed for another postseason. The Patriots, ranked No. 1 in all six state polls, have reached the state semifinals the past two seasons. Their bid for No. 3 starts Oct. 22 against C-J.

"We spend the entire season trying to emphasize one game at a time," Molfenter said. "We don't even look past records. I know it sounds cliche, but we are so focused on the next game at hand."

Senior leadership has come from Jeff Popella, Andrew Karmele, Tyler Berry and Ben Christoff among others. Seven starters are back from last year.

"The kids are aware you can't go anywhere if you don't take care of the game ahead of you," Molfenter said. "The thing about soccer, anything can happen out there."

Tourney time: Last weekend's sectional/district drawing mostly went according to plan. Centerville earned the top seed in the Division I, Dayton I & II district, followed by Fairmont and Northmont. Those three teams were also in that order in the Miami Valley Soccer Coaches Association poll at the time of the drawing.

The biggest shakeup came with Beavercreek. No. 7 in the poll, the Beavers grabbed the No. 4 seed, leaping past Troy and Tecumseh as higher-ranking poll teams. Helping Beavercreek was a 1-0 win over Troy.

In D-II, Carroll and Northwestern were top seeds. The Dayton I bracket is tough with Carroll, No. 2 Bellbrook and No. 3 Alter together. Those three are also 1-2-3 in the coaches' poll.

In D-III, Greeneview and Dayton Christian are top seeded.

The tournament starts Monday and ends with the state finals at Columbus Crew Stadium on Nov. 11-12.

View Article at DDN