TOLEDO, Ohio — UPDATE: The St. John's Titans lacrosse team came up short in their bid for the school's first state championship on Saturday. The Titans fell to Columbus St. Francis de Sales by a score of 15-4.
An unexpected journey gets to write one more chapter as St. John's Jesuit High School will play for an OHSAA state lacrosse championship on Saturday.
Following a two-hour rain delay in Medina on Wednesday, the Titans persevered to an 8-5 victory over University School. Sophomore Owen Strayer (hat trick) and senior Quinn Wiklendt led the way offensively.
"I can't believe it to be honest. Before this, I said there were two games left for the rest of our lives and now it's one," Wiklendt said. "We just have to go onto the next one and focus on the championship game ahead of us."
Adversity has been the theme of SJJ's postseason run which surfaced again in the state semifinal. Late in the first quarter, starting goalie Ian Horner left the game following a collision on the field. Head coach Andy Smith says his availability for the title game is "unlikely."
So in stepped junior Nicholas Bowers, who began the season in net for St. John's after Horner suffered a broken wrist during a winter snowboarding accident. Despite not having seen much action and serving as backup during the 2024 playoffs, Bowers and his defense helped hold the Preppers to just one goal in the second half.
"It's just magical. If you asked me at the beginning of the year could these guys make it state, I would've said yes," coach Smith said. "If you put the work in we can get there. One win at a time they just started to believe. They just won't quit and I love it."
St. John's entered the playoffs as a No. 7 seed in Division II, Region 5 following a record of 6-7 in the regular season (3-4 in the first year of Detroit's Catholic High School League). After defeating Southview at home in the opening round, the Titans turned into road warriors, winning the next four games by holding opponents to an average of 4.25 goals per game while also traveling a combined 358 miles in the process.
"We're really close," goalie Bowers said. "We always say if a goal goes in, we'll get it back and trust in each other."
The final day of the Ohio lacrosse season now features St. John's who will aim to bring home the program's first state championship. 2004 marks the only other time they played in a final but that was under the Ohio High School Lacrosse Association, not sanctioned by the OHSAA.
The Titans will battle St. Francis De Sales out of Columbus inside Historic Crew Stadium for the Division II State Championship at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Stallions won their semifinal on Wednesday 17-1 over Bellbrook and will be making their third straight appearance in the title game (won the state championship in 2022).
Prior to the Wednesday night's historic victory, the school held a send-off inside the Titan Dome at St. John's Jesuit High School.
"We just keep taking it one game at a time," Rebecca Wiklendt said. "People are canceling vacations that are up in the air because it's one game at a time."
Mother of the state's all-time leader in assists, Wiklendt joined another senior parent who has been proud to see how well this group has come together.
"The team's togetherness, they are really playing as a friends and as a team," Jude's mother Sarah Dzierwa said. "No selfishness whatsoever and they're just playing so good together."