ONTARIO — Despite having just won a league title last season, the Clear Fork Colts boys soccer team know the feeling of winning a championship never gets old.
So, when they knocked off Ontario 3-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 13 to clinch the outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title, they rightfully celebrated.
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“It is a great feeling because we went out our freshman year and took a hard loss in the MOAC and that made us never want to feel that again,” Clear Fork senior Finn Mcauley said. “We came out with intensity and it turned into a great feeling for every single one of us.”
Mcauley scored two goals on the game when he knocked in a left-footer with 11:05 left in the first half and added the eventual game-winning goal off of a rebound with 8:44 remaining in the match. Senior Kade Beachy added the dagger with five minutes left to give the Colts a 3-1 victory. Beachy also added two assists while Owen Weikle had one and Wes Bunnell collected seven saves in goal to preserve the win.
“People have been saying I have no left foot, so I just had to show them that I have a good one,” Mcauley said. “I hit a good shot and caught the keeper off and the second one, Beachy put one in a great place and I just tapped it in. He is always trying to find the goal and I love playing with him.”
The 2026 Colts join teams from 2002, 2003, 2009, 2020 and 2025 to win league championships in CF boys soccer history. The Colts had to give Ontario (5-5-5, 3-1-1) a huge thank you after knocking off Highland last week, a team that tied Clear Fork (12-1-3, 4-0-1) back on Sept. 24, setting up Tuesday’s winner-take-all.
“This feeling definitely never gets old especially after a couple weeks ago and having a funny conference game that kind of knocked us on our heels,” Clear Fork coach Nate Gailey said. “After Ontario beat Highland, it changed the dynamic of the league race and we needed to take advantage. We knew they would have a great gameplan like they always do, but we stayed within ourselves and the boys battled and found a way.”
Ontario had a stellar turnaround this season starting the year 0-3-4 including a shocking loss to Pleasant in that stretch, but won five out of six games to give themselves a shot at a league championship. Henry Yugovich had the lone goal for the Warriors off of a 50-plus yard free kick.
“I am proud of my boys,” Ontario coach Steven Armstrong said. “They executed the game plan as best they could. We knew they wanted to get the ball to the top of the 18 and even knowing that, their core four did a great job of getting to their spots and got their shots off. Give Clear Fork credit. Sometimes, great offense beats good defense.
“I give my boys a lot of credit to be in this position. We turned things around despite being extremely young. It speaks volumes of the work they put in.”
The Warriors have one of the youngest rosters in the league with just four seniors and a plethora of freshmen and sophomores peppering the starting lineup. The future is extremely bright.
“The offseason is going to tell the entire story of the future of our program,” Armstrong said. “We have 10 guys who need to be in the weight room five days a week and getting touches at least three days through the entire offseason. They need to push their teammates and challenge for positions. They have to elevate their game to the next level. I am excited and have a plan and hopefully, we can execute it.”
The Colts have 12 seniors who have now won back-to-back league championships and are looking for a third consecutive district title when the tournament starts next week.
“They look at it as a historic thing,” Gailey said. “There have not been a lot of conference championships in Clear Fork boys soccer for whatever reason. To get another one and to play for three in four years is very special. They realize that and put a lot of pressure on themselves. It is special.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Clear Fork wins 2026 Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference boys soccer title