BEAVERCREEK — The Beavercreek girl’s varsity soccer team and superstar junior Marcella Cash were honored by MaxPreps and the Army National guard last week.
The Beavers finished No. 12 nationally after its 24-0 season and Cash was named player of the year. The announcement was made by MaxPreps, a high school sports website and a CBSSports.com site. MaxPreps ranks more than 16,000 girls’ varsity soccer teams each fall.
“The MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard honors the very best high school teams in the nation,” said Andy Beal, president and founder of MaxPreps. “To qualify, you must be highly ranked nationally by MaxPreps; and you must also win a state championship. Those are tough qualifications considering there are nearly 16,000 teams competing in high school varsity soccer. Congratulations to the Beavercreek Beavers on their amazing achievement. MaxPreps and the Army National Guard are honored to recognize you for your hard work and amazing work on the field. “
Beavercreek went into its final game against Strongsville High School on a hot streak and played what head coach Steve Popp would describe as, a perfect first half, building a 4-0 lead. The Beavers pulled through with a 4-2 victory to win the OHSAA Division I state title. Beavercreek High School is one of 10 girls’ soccer teams being honored on the 14th annual MaxPreps Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its eighth-year honoring soccer.
Some may consider the state champs the deepest and most talented team in Beavercreek girl’s soccer history, which had the second highest team goal total in state history.
“This was one of the most complete teams you will ever see,” said Popp, who is in his 20th year as head coach. “The team was strong on both sides of the ball. We were one of the top teams in state history in scoring and one of the top teams in state history defensively.”
When asked what it meant to him and his team to be recognized by MaxPreps and the Army National Guard for their success, Popp said, “This is such a great honor. It takes a special group of student-athletes to be recognized with such a prestigious honor. It took a special group of players who worked extremely hard all year and worked together as a team to put together such an awesome season.”
Ohio Army National Guard Sergeant Cameron Winning presented Coach Popp and the girls with the Army National Guard national ranking trophy Dec. 14 evening during halftime of the boys’ basketball game. Along with the trophy, the team received a banner for its success.
“The Army National Guard embodies teamwork and a commitment to community and country. Just as your team joins together to defeat adversity and claim the victory, the Army National Guard stands in solidarity to protect our local communities and the United States of America as a whole,” said Captain Charlton Grant. “On behalf of the Army National Guard, I am honored to recognize this nationally ranked championship team for their dedication, perseverance and teamwork.”
MaxPreps Computer Rankings are used to determine team rank for the Tour of Champions. The system utilizes the huge number of game results stored in the MaxPreps database. Generally, the more a team wins the higher the ranking, but the system takes into account quality wins (against other highly ranked opponents), margin of victory, and strength of schedule. Playoff games are weighted 2.1 times a regular season game.
