Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
Bellbrook players celebrate a late goal scored by senior Logan Mozingo (12) during Tuesday’s Regional Semifinal match against Mariemont. Bellbrook won 9-7 to advance to Thursday’s Region 8 title round.
Bellbrook sophomore Nolan Severit (13) fires a shot for a goal past the Mariemont keeper.
Bellbrook junior Preston Pettit (6) flings a pass to junior Lucas Heckler (10).
Defensive play helped keep Mariemont off the scoreboard during the first half, such as on this play with Bellbrook junior Cole Swallows (31) keeping his stick on the ball carrier as senior goalie Alex Florea (50) watches the play.
BELLBROOK — Bellbrook’s boys lacrosse program is reaching new levels of success in 2024.
A 9-7 win on Tuesday against Mariemont pushed the Golden Eagles into the regional championship match for the first time ever as a Division II program.
Tuesday’s game was seen as the next benchmark of success by players and coaches. It was a rematch against a Mariemont team which eliminated Bellbrook from last year’s tournament in the same round before going on to win the regional title. The two sides met again just three weeks ago with the Warriors also handing Bellbrook (12-3) its worst loss of this season.
“Last year we didn’t win, but everybody walked away and kind of knew that we could play with a team like that,” head coach Vince Molseed said. “Three weeks ago we weren’t at our best effort. … Today we were able to control ourselves emotionally and play our game to get a great result.”
After being created in 2011, Bellbrook won two titles at the club level during the program’s infancy and has steadily improved since moving into D-II status. It has five straight seasons with a record about .500 and this year received its highest ever seed for the postseason tournament in being voted No. 2 in the region.
Six straight wins to begin the 2024 campaign got Bellbrook’s season off to a strong start which it continued into the playoffs. A pair of easy home wins by 15 against Cincinnati Country Day and by nine in a weather shortened contest against Indian Hill set up Tuesday’s showdown with third-seeded Mariemont.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted last year,” said Logan Mozingo, who scored four goals during Tuesday’s win. “It was a close game still, but I think just that chip on our shoulder really carried us into this one.”
Mariemont got off to a fast start in Tuesday’s game with two goals in the first four minutes. The Warriors controlled possession and got off several more clear path shots during the first half, but six saves by Bellbrook’s Alex Florea helped a quick strike offense get their team back in the game.
Nolan Severit got Bellbrook on the board for the first time past the midway point of the first quarter before Mozingo netted two more to give his team the lead. After he scored his third later on during the second quarter, Severit found himself open in front of the net late in the half and fired a fifth unanswered goal into the net to put Bellbrook up three at the break.
“We wanted to play a tough, physical game and show everyone what we were all about,” Florea said. “I think they did that splendidly.”
Bellbrook extended its lead to five with several more goals coming seconds after restarts of play as they frustrated the Mariemont defense. The Warriors didn’t go away and began to creep closer with four straight goals spanning into the fourth quarter to make it 8-7 with 6:57 to play.
The best defense came from applying pressure on offense as Bellbrook searched for an insurance goal late and didn’t let Mariemont gain possession. After drawing a 30 second penalty late in the quarter, Mozingo scored again with 2:08 left in the match to get the cushion needed to help run out the clock.
“Mariemont is such a good team,” Molseed said. “Nobody was surprised what they scored a couple goals and started pressing and making a game of it. But we got what we needed to finish it off.”
In addition to Mozingo’s four-goal effort, Severit had three goals while Preston Pettit and Gavin McConnell both scored once.
Bellbrook was play at No. 1-seed Bishop Fenwick at 7 p.m on Thursday. The Golden Eagles beat Fenwick 15-12 on April 15 in what Molseed said he thought was the best game his team played this season.
Despite playing a familiar opponent, it will be a foreign situation in trying to next earn a first ever state berth. It’s a goal players and coaches aren’t shying away from accomplishing.
“This is uncharted territory for us,” Molseed said. “It’s big and a lot of people have put in a lot of time to make this thing happen. The kids and coaches work hard. We’ve got parents that provide unbelievable support, you could see all the students we had out tonight, and there were a bunch of ex-players here supporting the guys tonight.
“It’s a big community that are all very much invested in what this team does and we’re super excited about it.”
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
