Roosevelt boys, girls soccer deliver MAC Tournament sweep

KENT — The Metro Athletic Conference Tournament has had its share of surprises. This year was more a confirmation of the regular season.

After Roosevelt topped Streetsboro 4-1 in the girls soccer championship game and Tallmadge 5-0 in the boys title game, it was clear to all at Dix Stadium that 2026 is the year of the Rough Riders.

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“This [has been] their goal all season,” Roosevelt boys co-coach Nathan Harris said. “The intensity at practice, the attention to detail, the effort, it’s all there and they deserve it all.”

The Rough Riders’ first MAC Tournament didn’t just cement their first soccer league titles in roughly a decade — after the Roosevelt boys and girls both went undefeated during the MAC regular season. It was also a chance to relish something completely new, a league tournament environment at Dix Stadium Oct. 14 with fans from myriad MAC schools in attendance.

“Something that was really cool for us is we had a lot of alumni here,” Roosevelt girls coach Sammy Spicer said. “We had a lot of youth here and we had a lot of other school personnel here that they usually come and support us, but to see them in this environment and everyone cheering for things that we’ve worked really hard for was especially exciting.”

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Roosevelt impresses with array of crosses

The results were one form of validation. The crosses were another.

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Yes, the Rough Riders scored on an array of beautiful crosses. Indeed, five of Roosevelt’s first six goals in the two games came courtesy of a cross.

“That’s something that’s been super exciting is obviously we’re seeing a ton of success this year, but when we talk about the success from this year, we forget that it’s truly five years worth of hard work,” Spicer said. “So all of those crosses, all of those end line runs, all of those back posts getting there, that’s been just something we’ve drilled in them since I first came here. So to see it connect in such a space that brought home something is really exciting because finally it’s like, okay, it’s clicking, it’s paying off.”The first cross of the night, off junior Maggie Pazderak’s foot, was actually headed for Molly Flynn, according to fellow sophomore Stella Haines, who ended up knocking the ball in by the back post in the seventh minute.

“I was like, ‘Wait, leave it,’ at the last minute,” Haines said. “And then I just tried to get a foot on it as quick as possible.”

The next cross, by sophomore Carleigh Wiler to Haines, was no less beautiful to give the Rough Riders a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.

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“She’s a very good player and she honestly deserves most of the credit there because that was an insane ball and right to me,” Haines said. “I was just able to get on the end of it, and I was just glad to be there and finish it.”

A couple of minutes later, Haines’ older cousin, Audrey, sent a slick cross from the end line to the feet of Pazderak, who knocked it home for a 3-0 lead.

Roosevelt’s array of crosses carried into the second game. The Rough Riders’ first goal came when Ian Mikula pounced on a ball by the end line and found Callaghan Knapp charging into the middle of the box to drive the ball home.

“I played Ian through,” Knapp said. “Ian got a little stuck because the Tallmadge goalie did really well shielding him off. I knew Ian would play me the ball. Just I ran, I scored.”

Before the half was complete, Josiah Atanga had a beautiful run up the left side before crossing the ball to fellow junior Kellen Obraza for a slick one-touch finish and a key insurance goal in the 32nd minute.

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“Josiah’s been playing in the six [position] a lot, but we needed to change some things up today to get more bodies and [be] more aggressive in the midfield and he moved out to the eight,” Harris said. “His range is just crazy. He’s so athletic, so big and strong, and he just bombs up and down the field with both feet. He’s excellent.”

Five players scored for Roosevelt, with Aaron McKinney, Isan Roberts and Mikula joining Knapp and Obraza.

“We just have a lot of quality players,” McKinney said. “We’ve been working well as a team to try and play well off each other and just create good chances.”

The Roosevelt boys thus secured a seventh consecutive win, a stretch that has included six shutouts.

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“The captains, the leadership has just been excellent,” Harris said. “They come out on our off days and they’re running practices on their own. They’ve been fighting for a long time for something to play for, and they were just super excited the last two weeks of the season.

“They’re ready for something bigger than just first conference championship since [2014]. They’re just ready to win something big.”

Both Roosevelt teams certainly look capable after the boys made their first league title since 2014 outright and the girls did the same with their first title since 2017. Really, the only down note was Pazderak suffering a knee injury.According to Spicer, “That’s why as excited as we are to win, there’s a very somber feel to it, because she’s such a huge part of our dynamic.”

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Girls title game: Roosevelt 4, Streetsboro 1

• Stella Haines (Maggie Pazderak), 1-0 Roosevelt (33:51, 1st)

• Stella Haines (Carleigh Wiler), 2-0 Roosevelt (20:16, 1st)

• Maggie Pazderak (Audrey Haines), 3-0 Roosevelt (17:55, 1st)

• McKenzie Montgomery (penalty kick), 3-1 Roosevelt (8:20, 2nd)

• Sammi Maccarone, 4-1 Roosevelt (4:15, 2nd)

Boys title game: Roosevelt 5, Tallmadge 0

• Callaghan Knapp (Ian Mikula), 1-0 Roosevelt (23:04, 1st)

• Kellen Obraza (Josiah Atanga), 2-0 Roosevelt (8:38, 1st)

• Isan Roberts, 3-0 Roosevelt (30:30, 2nd)

• Aaron McKinney, 4-0 Roosevelt (4:14, 2nd)

• Ian Mikula, 5-0 Roosevelt (3:38, 2nd)

Contact Jonah L. Rosenblum at jrosenblum@recordpub.com and follow him on Twitter at @JLRSports.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Roosevelt boys, girls soccer deliver MAC Tournament sweep

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