By David Jablonski for the Springfield News-Sun

No one expected this — not Catholic Central, not West Liberty-Salem, not the half-frozen, half-soggy fans under the umbrellas in the stands.

Based on the regular-season results, a close game was expected Monday in a Division III, Dayton 2 sectional final at Hallinean Field. Instead, the second-seeded Irish hammered the Tigers 10-0 to advance to Thursday’s district final at undefeated and state top-ranked Greeneview.v

“I never expected this obviously in my wildest dreams,” Catholic Central coach Shane Latham said. “The guys peaked at the right time and played an unbelievable first half.”

Central, ranked seventh in D-III, scored seven goals in the first half. The Irish had six goals combined in two 3-0 victories over the Tigers in the regular season.

The first two goals scored Monday by Stefan Latham and Alex Pillion came 22 seconds apart in the seventh minute.

“We played very well and took our chances,” Stefan Latham said. “That’s what we needed to do.”

The scoring barrage didn’t stop there.

Stefan Latham added two more goals in the half. Steve Shonk, Anthony Canestraro and Jordan Halloran had single goals in the first 40 minutes. Halloran had two more goals in the second half, and Mic Schmitt added one.

The Tigers (11-8) took just two shots on goal in the first half and five in the game to 25 by Central.

“It’s absolutely the best we’ve played in the first half, against a good side,” Shane Latham said. “To score seven goals against West Liberty is an unbelievable performance. They were all decent goals, and we had other opportunities, too.”

The Irish improve to 15-3. They have lost twice to No. 1 Greeneview and once to Cincinnati Summit Country Day, which was ranked No. 1 in the state at the time of the game in September.

Greeneview (18-0) beat Sidney Lehman 5-0 Monday. The top-seeded Rams beat the Irish 3-1 and 4-1 in the regular season, winning the Ohio Heritage Conference title in the process.

Now Central gets a third chance to beat Greeneview.

“We have to play very similar to what we did tonight and hope we get a lot of breaks and make a majority of good decisions and hope the ball breaks for us,” Shane Latham said. “We have to play a huge game to beat Greeneview. Greeneview is the No. 1 team in the state, undefeated. So it’s going to take a huge performance to beat them.”

The Rams beat the Irish 1-0 in the sectional final a year ago. Central has not advanced past the district final since they got to the regional final in 2002. The year before that, the Irish won the state championship.

“At this point, it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing as long as we’re still alive in the tournament,” Shane Latham said. “Summit, Cincinnati Country Day and Ada, three of the top teams in the state, already lost in the first round of the tournament. Every game is an opportunity to advance, and half the teams go out and half the teams move on.”

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