MARION — Soccer season is officially underway in Ohio, and Marion Harding and River Valley took advantage of Futbol Friday Night. The OHSAA starts the boys and girls soccer seasons a week ahead of the high school football, giving those athletes the chance to compete in prime time Friday, Aug. 14. The Marion County and Mid Ohio Athletic Conference rivals faced off in a girls-boys doubleheader inside Harding Stadium with the RV girls prevailing 5-1 over the Presidents and the RV and Harding boys playing to a 1-1 tie. Here's more from Futbol Friday Night 2026:
River Valley girls look sharp in opener There was little to quibble about for the Vikings. The defense was on point. The midfield helped control the tempo. The offense got contributions from all over the field. "This sets the tone for the season a lot of times in what you’re going to be," RV coach Justin Hage said. "It’s a big rivalry so you’re anxious and up and crazy from the beginning. You get that win and it helps you with the rest of the season to push a little harder. We have some games coming up that are rough, and we have to get ready for those." River Valley received its first goal from Chloe Addis with 27:22 left in the first half, then less than 10 minutes later Sarina Strother struck. Kya Moran made it 3-0 late in the first half as the Vikings took the three-goal lead into the second half. The Vikes struck again less than seven minutes after halftime when Cassidy Elliott scored. Strother then hit a rocket from deep with 15:20 left to give her team a 5-0 lead. "Our defense I thought looked really, really good. There were times in the preseason where they didn’t look that sharp, but I think they took care of each other," Hage said, giving credit to goalkeeper Havyn Rodgers for her aggressiveness and communication in the net. "Our passes connected really well. It’s a little better when we’re on grass. We took a lot of shots from a lot of different people. Four people scored." 2026 soccer preview: Marion-area soccer teams optimistic about the start of 2026 season Vote in the soccer polls: Marion Star Boys, Girls Preseason Soccer Player of the 2026 polls Soccer video: Marion-area soccer teams optimistic about the start of 2026 season Marion Harding's girls score late With 67 seconds to go, the Presidents got a goal from Charlee Etgen in front of the net. "It’s a positive at the end of the game to score a goal and get the first goal of the season out of the way. Hopefully we’ll feel more confident going into our next game," first-year Harding girls coach Kindall Duke said. It's a young crew at Harding in 2026 as they lost 11 to graduation so their inexperience was evident at times. "We have a solid core group of girls. We just need a little bit more communication and more leadership," Duke said.
Marion Harding boys making strides The Presidents led most of the night, dominating possession and taking 15 shots at River Valley goalkeeper Cooper Mullins. It was a Harrison Keith ricochet less than four minutes into the match that gave Harding a 1-0 lead. "In the beginning I was challenging our guys, and I wasn’t reacting to what was going on," RV coach Joel Richards said. "It’s on me. I don’t call it a fluke goal. I call it a good goal because they were pressing and doing what their coach wants them to do and that’s why that goal went in. It was purely on effort on their end. They outplayed us from the beginning." Largely a group of juniors, Harding showed its overall improvement as a soccer team from the previous two seasons during its match with the Vikings. "Taking over the program two years ago and coming off back-to-back 1-win seasons, it’s taken time," Harding coach Ian Hartley said. "The biggest thing now is taking the opportunity and learning how to win matches. Just because you are the dominant team doesn’t mean you always come out on top."
River Valley's boys strike for the tie With 17:05 left in the match, Gideon Owings found Riley Hummel on a breakaway that evened the match at 1-1. Two minutes later, a skirmish broke out and yellow cards were given to players on both teams with RV going a man down for the final 15 minutes. Harding continued to pressure to score but couldn't crack RV's defense. "Our emotions were very high," Hartley said. "We stayed composed for the most part when it got kind of sketchy there for a minute. We need those (leaders) to step up in big moments. We just weren’t quite there tonight, but hopefully we can get there." Richards liked his team's defensive effort and obviously the play of Mullins, but there are things to learn from as the Vikings get ready for a busy next week with three road matches lined up at Johnstown, Buckeye Valley and West Jefferson. "Ian had a great game plan. They absorbed a lot of our stuff and sent it back up the field. It frustrated us," Richards said. rmccurdy@usatodayco.com 419-610-0998 X @McMotorsport Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Primetime Friday matches open soccer seasons for RV, Marion Harding