Wooster boys lacrosse falls just short in state final
Jake Haas, left, coach Reid Delaney, Liam Harwood and Braden Flint discuss Wooster's loss in the Division II state championship game during a press conference.
The Wooster boys lacrosse team raised the bar one notch short of the top in 2025.
The Generals advanced to the Division II state championship game, where they lost 9-7 against Columbus Bishop Watterson at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus on June 8.
The Eagles (14-6) jumped out to a 4-1 advantage after one quarter, and despite a valiant effort by the Generals (18-3), they never relinquished the lead.
Wooster was making its first appearance in a state Final Four since lacrosse became a sanctioned OHSAA sport in 2017. The Generals won state titles in 2002, 1998 and 1991 when the Ohio High School Lacrosse Association oversaw the sport.
The state title game appearance carried extra significance, as no Wooster boys team had ever previously reached the championship game in an OHSAA-sanctioned sport.
Watterson and Wooster were evenly matched after the first quarter, and perhaps in a matchup on another day, it would have been the Generals who hoisted the championship trophy.
Despite the heartbreak of coming so close to the title, the Generals players and coaches alike were all thankful afterward for experiencing an incredible season.
“Every single one of our players, fans, everybody who came out to support us today, I'm so grateful for them,” senior defender Jake Haas said. “I love this team and every one of our guys.
“We were more than pumped to be here, and we really came in thinking that this was our game. It sucks that it's really not, but I'm just glad that we had people to support us every bit of the way, from the coaching staff to the parents and donors who have helped.”
Watterson pushed its lead out to 6-3 at the half, but Wooster stormed back by blanking the Eagles in the third. The Generals cut the deficit to 6-5 after goals by senior Liam Harwood and freshman Jack Thomas.
The Eagles answered with two backbreaking tallies to open the fourth and go up 8-5.
Wooster junior Brooks Laughlin scored with 8:58 left in the game to trim the margin to 8-6, but Watterson closed its scoring and put away the win after Davis Seaman found the back of the net with 4:01 left.
Harwood and junior Drew Thomas finished with two goals apiece while adding one score each were senior Charlie Williams, Jack Thomas and Laughlin. Junior Liam Ozar had nine saves for Wooster.
Watterson controlled the ball for much of the game and had its wing players come up with a surprising number of possessions after faceoffs. The Eagles wound up with a 34-18 edge in shots on goal.
“That’s very uncharacteristic of our games that we have had,” said fourth-year Wooster coach Reid Delaney, whose team edged Rocky River 10-8 in the state semifinals. “We've been able to control the time of possession, typically.
“This one we had to be a little bit more rushed on ‘O,' and that kind of hurt us. We didn't control as many faceoffs. I thought Logan Beery won a lot of the clamps, but they got a lot of possessions off of it, and then from there we were playing behind.”
Delaney called it “a great storm” for Watterson: getting extra possessions, controlling the ball and milking the clock.
“They didn't do anything wrong in terms of stalling, nothing like that,” Delaney said. “They played a great game of lacrosse and just took a decent amount of time to set up their offense.”
Brother combinations Jake and Max Haas (junior defender) and Drew and Jack Thomas did their best to help spark the Generals.
However, as is the case in many sports, after a team exerts a large amount of energy to trim a deficit, sometimes they run out of gas at the end. Jake Haas loved the way Wooster competed in the third quarter but admitted it eventually took its toll on a hot day on the Crew Stadium turf.
“I think they took the gas out of us by the fourth quarter, with us playing a lot of defense,” said Jake Haas, a Liberty University signee. “I think holding them to no goals (in the third quarter) was big on our D to lighten us up, make us more confident. I also think that every single one of our defenders is outstanding. It’s a great group of guys.”
Wooster’s memorable season led to an incredible array of accolades.
Harwood and Beery were both named High School All-Americans.
Earning Div. II Ohio Player of the Year for their positions were Harwood (attack), Beery (faceoff specialist), Williams (defensive midfielder), Ozar (goalie) and Jake Haas (defender).
Also earning All-Ohio honors were juniors Grady Hahn and Drew Thomas.
Delaney was named Div. II State Coach of the Year for the third straight year.
“It hurts to lose, but we were the first (Wooster) team since 2002 to get here,” said Harwood, who has signed to play at Lewis University. “We proved that we can play at this level. Coming in as freshmen, they had been something like 4-12 before us, and we turned the program around. I think that goes to the coaches, as well as the players’ dedication to the game.”
Delaney’s thoughts immediately after the game were about his seniors, whom he thanked and gave best wishes for the future.
“There's a lot of emotions,” said Delaney, who was an assistant before taking over the reins at his alma mater. “I just discussed with these seniors that my biggest emotion is that the last six years of my life I've spent with them.
“To know I’ll have to go into another season without this group of guys is extremely difficult. I'm over the moon with what we've been able to accomplish as a team this year and in the past four years.”