By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Cincinnati, Ohio---The Express men's soccer team couldn't overcome the loss of two starters in a 3-0 loss to No. 9 Cincinnati State Technical and Community College in today's Region XII championship game.

In yesterday's semifinal, leading scorer Jacob Martin (St. John's Jesuit/Maumee, Ohio) picked up a red card, and Ahmad Jarrar (Hendersonville/Hendersonville, N.C.) was injured. Those two had combined for 23 goals and eight assists this season. 

Cincinnati State went up 1-0 in the 18th minute on a goal from Kyle Grothaus. The game would remain a one goal distance until the 65th minute when Bradley Gale scored. Later, in the 82nd minute, Abdirahman Aden scored a third goal for Cincinnati State.

Ryan Wicher (Whitmer/Toledo, Ohio) started in goal for the Express. He made four saves.

Vijay Gentles (Cedric Titus/Margate, Fla.), Troy Watson (Sir Wilfrid Laurier/Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and Austin Combs (Anthony Wayne/Maumee, Ohio) had the only shots on goal for the Express. They had one each.

The Express (15-6-1) finish the season with the program's highest win total since the 2007 team won 16 games. Their 15 wins is tied for third most in a single season in program history.

Notes

Cincinnati State (17-1-2) advances to the district championship game next weekend.