Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools 2637 Tusky Valley Rd. Zoarville, OH 44656 330-859-2213

2017 Season (15-2-2)
Front: Diego Castaneira, Bruno Friedenhain, Arvie Wolf, Lilli Peterson, Cameron Salapack, Zoe McConaha Middle: Jon Sullivan, Griffin McConaha, Gavin Perkowski, Tyler Boyd, Trent Romig, Brandon Steinbaugh, Andrew Nussbaumer Back Row: Head Coach Shawn Miller, Zach Williams, Josh Ragon, Jared Houze, Jonathan Rennicker, Jacob Stump, Sam Ray, Titus Rennicker Not Pictured: Enrico Bigi, Diego Menendez

Season Recap

The 2017 soccer season will simply go down as the greatest soccer season in Tusky Valley history.  The Trojans set numerous individual and team records as they rewrote the Tusky Valley record books on their way to the school’s first ever district title.

The Trojans got off to a bit of a slow start as they stood at 1-1-1 after a hard-fought season opening loss to Minerva and a 0-0 tie with traditional soccer power Hiland.  However, the Trojans were dominant in their next three contests as they outscored Orrville, Caldwell and Sandy Valley by a combined score of 23-1 to take a record of 4-1-1 into their September 18th showdown at United.

The game vs. the undefeated Eagles was a tough, physical battle that would literally come down to the final second.  The Trojans took an early lead when Cameron Salapack scored and extended their lead to 2-0 on a Josh Ragon goal. The Eagles had cut the lead to 2-1 and were putting pressure on Trojan goalie Tyler Boyd as the clock was running down.  Finally, the Eagles appeared to tie the game on a header just as time expired but the officials ruled that the clock had run out before the goal was scored and the Trojans escaped Hanoverton with a thrilling 2-1 victory to improve to 5-1-1.

Josh Ragon scored a school record 33 goals and ended his career as Tusky Valley's all-time goals leader with 92.

The Trojans would roll through the remainder of regular season with only a 3-3 vs. New Philadelphia keeping them from a record winning streak.  “The game against New Philadelphia was probably the most stressful game of the season,” said goalie Tyler Boyd. “We were down 3-1 and it looked like we would lose, but we battled back and tied it 3-3.”

Following the New Philadelphia game, the Trojans would win their final six regular season games to wrap up the best regular season in school history.  The Trojans were so dominant during the season’s stretch run that they outscored their opponents 57-5 over that stretch.

Tusky Valley entered tournament play with a regular season record of 12-1-2.  The Trojans hosted Union Local on October 18th and wasted little time showing their superiority over the Jets as they had nine different players score goals on their way to a 12-0 opening round victory and the sectional title.

The Trojans then moved onto district play where they faced Steubenville Catholic Central under the lights at Minerva.  The game was an intense back and forth battle with each team gaining and then losing momentum. The Trojans led 2-0 early and held a 3-1 lead late in the first half.  Unfortunately, a Trojan mistake allowed the Crusaders to score with just 37 seconds remaining in the first half and it was a 3-2 score at the break.

The Crusaders would control play early in the second half and they would tie the score at 3-3 with just under 20 minutes remaining and suddenly the soccer team’s dream season was on the brink.  However, the Trojans would fight back and take the lead for good when Josh Ragon found Enrico Bigi for a goal with 15 minutes remaining and the Trojan defense held on as the Trojans scored a thrilling 4-3 victory.

Enrico Bigi scored the game winning goal vs. Steubenville Catholic Central in a thrilling 4-3 Trojan victory.

The win over Steubenville Catholic Central set up a rematch with Hiland for the district title.  The Trojans entered the game with the weight of history on their shoulders as they had never defeated the Hawks in soccer and were looking for the school’s first ever district title.

The game was played on a cold, wet and rainy Saturday afternoon at New Philadelphia's Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium.  The two teams battled to a scoreless tie in the first half before Josh Ragon gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead on a header in the 48th minute.  The Trojans were able to sustain the lead late into the contest when Cameron Salapack gave the Trojans some breathing room as he found the back of the net on a penalty kick and the Trojans led 2-0 with under ten minutes to play.  From there, the Trojan defense would take over as they kept the Hawks off the scoreboard giving Tusky Valley their first ever victory over Hiland and first ever district championship in soccer. "I can't say enough about this team," said Trojan head coach Shawn Miller. "I couldn't be more proud as a coach. We have great leadership and they've accomplished so much together."  Coach Miller wasn’t the only one who was proud of the team’s first ever district title. “Being on the field and knowing that you had a big part in making school history, that is something that I will cherish forever,” stated senior Cameron Salapack.

The soccer team captured Tusky Valley's first ever District championship with a 2-0 win over Hiland.

The Trojan season would come to an end in the regional semifinals when they were defeated 7-0 by Grandview Heights, the state’s second ranked team.  Despite the ending, the season will be remembered as the greatest in Tusky Valley soccer history as the team set records for the longest unbeaten streak (17), wins in a season (15), fewest losses in a season (2), most goals scored (117) and goal differential (+92).  The senior class would also leave Tusky Valley as the winningest soccer class of all time as they recorded 44 wins during their four years tying the mark set by the class of 2007.

The loss to Grandview Heights also concluded the careers seniors Josh Ragon, Cameron Salapack, Tyler Boyd, Trent Romig, Andrew Nussbaumer and Jared Nolan.  Ragon would end his career as Tusky Valley all-time leader in goals with 92 and single season goals scored leader with 33.

“If I could only use one word to describe this season it would be memorable,” said Ragon. “We broke so many records and we had such a good time doing it.”  Fellow senior Tyler Boyd chose a different word but expressed a similar sentiment. “Fantastic,” said Boyd. “It was awesome. Breaking the records, getting in the newspapers, winning the title. We had our hard work pay off in a big way.”


How would you summarize the 2017 soccer season?

Jared Nolan - Amazing.

Andrew Nussbaumer - The 2017 soccer season was historical.

Josh Ragon - The 2017 soccer season was the best season in Tusky Valley History.

Cameron Salapack - Teamwork makes the dream work.

Tyler Boyd - The single best soccer season that Tusky Valley has ever had. It was full of broken records and even brought home the district championship. It was so much fun, both for the players and the community.

What was your team’s biggest strength?

Jared Nolan -
Our biggest strength was how well we worked together.

Andrew Nussbaumer - Our biggest strength was teamwork. We always just seemed to flow together.

Josh Ragon - Our biggest strength was our ability to play together as one.

Cameron Salapack - Our biggest strength was being coachable.

Tyler Boyd - Our biggest strength was probably that we were a very close team. We all got along and just had fun together. We very rarely argued and knew that we all shared a common goal.


Looking back, what was the most important/tense/stressful game of the season and why?

Jared Nolan - The district final vs . Hiland because we knew it was going to be tough.

Andrew Nussbaumer - The most tense game of season was against United Local. They were a very good team and almost matched us step for step.

Josh Ragon - Our most important game of the season was the district finals game against Hiland. This was a tense game because my school has never won a district title and we have never beaten hiland. We accomplished both of those things during that game.

Cameron Salapack - The district final vs. Hiland because all of the team's hard work during preseason led to this game.

Tyler Boyd - The game against New Philadelphia was probably the most stressful game of the season. We were down 3-1 and it looked like we would lose, but we battled back and tied it 3-3.


What was your most memorable moment from the 2017 season (on or off the field)?

Jared Nolan - The crossbar challenge.

Andrew Nussbaumer - My most memorable moment of the season was winning the district championship.

Josh Ragon - Scoring the first goal in the district finals vs Hiland.

Cameron Salapack - Scoring a goal off of a free kick during the district final game.

Tyler Boyd - Winning the district championship. It was something that our school had never accomplished as a soccer program and it meant a whole lot to take the trophy back home with us.


What was the best thing about being a member of this year’s team?

Jared Nolan - How fun the team was.

Andrew Nussbaumer - Being a part of school history.

Josh Ragon - We will go down as the best soccer team in Tusky Valley history.

Cameron Salapack - Being on the field and knowing that you had a big part in making school history is something that I will cherish forever.

Tyler Boyd - I got to meet a lot of really amazing people and get to know them. I built relationships with some of them that will last a long time and that means a whole lot.


What will you miss the most about being a Trojan soccer player (seniors only)?

Jared Nolan - The togetherness of the team.

Andrew Nussbaumer - I'll miss playing for such a great program and a great coaching duo.

Josh Ragon - The thing I will miss most about being a Trojan soccer player is the amount of memories that were made and all of the fun I had with my teammates.

Cameron Salapack - I will miss the atmosphere of the season games.

Tyler Boyd - Hanging out with all of the players on a daily basis. I am going to miss them more than anything else. They always gave me something to look forward to in the day. No matter how bad of a day I was having, I could go down to the field and know that my teammates were going to make me laugh. They are truly incredible people and I am going to miss those moments everyday.


If you could only use one word to describe the season, what would it be and why?

Jared Nolan - Unforgettable because that is what it was.

Andrew Nussbaumer - Unforgettable.

Josh Ragon - If I could only use one word to describe this season it would be the word “memorable” because we broke so many records and we had such a good time doing it.

Cameron Salapack - Astonishing because of all the records the team broke this season.

Tyler Boyd - Fantastic. It was awesome, breaking the records, getting in the newspapers, winning the title. We had our hard work pay off in a big way.


What was it like to be the first TV soccer team to finally beat Hiland and claim the district title?

Jared Nolan - It was amazing and a big achievement for our soccer program.

Andrew Nussbaumer - It was tough. We had played Hiland earlier in the season and tied and we knew it was going to be tough. But we stuck together and won it all.

Josh Ragon - It was a thrilling win, and I will never forget finally holding the trophy up and giving our school its first district title in soccer.

Cameron Salapack - It is an amazing feeling because Josh and I knew that we would do some great things for the Tusky Valley soccer team and that it exactly what we did. There is no one else who I would rather have by my side to lead the soccer team into battle other than Josh Ragon.

Tyler Boyd - It was the perfect circumstances. My sophomore year we had lost to Hiland in the tournament 9-0. To come back Senior year and have our team beat them 2-0 shows how hard our team worked and grew over the past three years. To be the first team to beat Hiland and the first team to get to regionals, it was truly amazing.

Season Results

Opponent
W/L
Score
Minerva
L
4-5
Canton South
W
4-0
Hiland
T
0-0
Orrville
W
6-0
Caldwell
W
6-1
Sandy Valley
W
11-0
United
W
2-1
Massillon
W
6-0
New Philadelphia
T
3-3
Carrollton
W
11-1
Massillon
W
11-1
Kingsway Christian
W
9-1
Fairless
W
6-1
Carrollton
W
9-0
Sandy Valley
W
11-1
Union Local
W
12-0
Steubenville Catholic Central
W
4-3
Hiland
W
2-0
Grandview Heights
L
0-7


2017 Soccer Awards

Josh Ragon
First Team All-Ohio
Eastern District Player of the Year
East/West All Star Game
Trojan Leadership Award
Cameron Salapack
First Team Eastern District
East/West All Star Game
Tyler Boyd
Second Team Eastern District
Best Defensive Player
Jacob Stump
Best Defensive Player
Sam Ray
Second Team Eastern District
Most Improved
Bruno Friedenhain
Honorable Mention Eastern District
   
  Andrew Nussbaumer
Coaches Award
 






The pages on this website are designed and maintained by Mr. Horger's web class.
© 2014 All Rights Reserved -- Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools