ASHLAND – The Arrows boys soccer program has been cruising along on a highway of success for the overwhelming majority of its existence during the past four-plus decades.
It’s been a while, though, since Ashland was in the driver’s seat of the Ohio Cardinal Conference race.
With just a pair of games left in league action – Tuesday at Wooster and at home Sept. 29 against West Holmes – Ashland finds itself in position to lock up at least a share of the conference crown for the first time since 2015.
Two wins for the Arrows (7-1-2, 4-0-1 OCC), coupled with anything but three wins for rival Lexington (4-2-2, 3-0-1) in its final trio of league games, would give AHS the title outright.
Eighth-year Ashland head coach Dustin Hosler said this season has easily been among the best he’s experienced while leading the program.
“The boys have been playing really well,” said Hosler, now 76-45-16 overall guiding the Arrows. “We had a really good group of experienced players that returned, but we also had some really experienced young guys that have stepped up and contributed this year.
“I think this is the most cohesive unit we’ve had and I think (assistant coaches Jeremy Lane and Trent Heckman) would both agree. They do a ton of stuff outside of soccer and I think teams that bond well outside of soccer are close-knit and tend to do well.”
Hosler knows first-hand what high levels of success look like within the program.
The 2000 Ashland graduate was on the team’s lone Final Four-qualifying squad in 1998 and finished his career as one of the best offensive threats in Arrows’ history (39 goals, 13 assists).
When this fall finishes, he will have posted a winning record in all eight of his seasons piloting the AHS squad.
It’s a tenure that ties him with Adam Bracken for the second-most years as the team’s head coach. Only trailblazer Jerry White, Ashland’s first-ever coach, has more (13).
Hosler said having the support of his wife, Katie, and the help of Lane – who has been an assistant coach for all eight of his seasons – have been critical in his successes.
With a 33-12-5 record in OCC games, Hosler has led the Arrows to three league runner-up placements.
Behind a defense steered by senior and returning OCC Defensive Player of the Year Gary George, this year’s unit had forced six shutouts in nine games prior to its 3-3 tie Saturday with Massillon Perry.
“The defense has been absolutely stout this year,” Hosler said. “It allows us to be more free-flowing in the mid, it allows us to be a little bit more aggressive up top, because we know with the quality we have there, it’s gonna be hard to break them down.”
The coach said George and senior Eric Cao have been big parts of the defense for years, adding that senior Jamie Stickney and junior Jaxson Witter have plugged into the formation as key pieces in 2026.
In front of that group, Hosler said freshman Parker Morton has been critical as well, adding that the only minutes he’s left the field came when he had a toenail ripped off in-game.
Behind them, senior Ward Schaaf has been a stable force at goalie, turning in 23 saves and six shutouts thus far. He had to wait his turn behind two-time All-OCC keeper Justin Pancake.
Hosler said George has been the glue within the group. The senior has an offer to play at NCAA Division II Ohio Dominican University, but he’s also in talks with a few other schools and is entertaining an offer from a program in England.
“Gary is going to go down as one of the best to go through Ashland,” Hosler said. “Defenders don’t always get the recognition that they deserve; it’s usually the goalie that gets it.
“But Gary proved it last year as a junior winning the OCC Defensive Player of the Year. I see no reason why he shouldn’t win it again this year.”
George said this year’s Ashland defense has been a little different because it has deployed a four-back approach rather than a three-back, adding that he took a little more on his shoulders for his senior season.
“We’ve only allowed three goals (through the first nine games), so I think that kinda says enough,” George said.
“We’ve just got to keep winning games, just keep working hard in practice and just continue to do what we do.”
George has also been involved offensively on corner kicks and set pieces for his entire career, scoring at least three goals in all four seasons. But it’s been an underclassman pacing the scoring charge in 2026.
Following the graduation last year of Kaden Howman – one of just 10 Arrows ever to score 40 career goals (42 goals, 21 assists) – Ashland needed to find some new go-to offensive leaders.
Sophomore forward Luke Lavengood has stepped into those cleats nicely.
After bagging nine goals as an All-OCC freshman a year ago, Lavengood netted his 10th of this season Saturday in a rain-soaked, 3-3 battle with Perry at Ringler Field.
He opened the year with four of them at Ontario and has four assists to go along with those numbers.
“We’re not scoring as much as we want to,” said Lavengood, the younger brother of former AHS team MVP Carson Lavengood, a 2022 AHS graduate who went on to play at Ashland University.
“But (being the top scorer) has just pushed me to work harder and to help the team out.”
Juniors Ethan Haag (seven goals) and Maddox Mager (four) are a few of the additional weapons for the Arrows on offense, and freshman Leo Heckman has matched Lavengood for the team lead in assists (four).
“We knew this year year we were going to have to score more from build-up play and would need to be a team unit to score, not relying on one individual to beat a couple guys,” Hosler said. “I think a lot of the goals this year have really come from organic buildup and the run-of-play there.”
Haag and Lavengood – who join George and Cao as player-selected team captains – are just part of an exciting core of performers who no doubt will lead another talented Ashland crew onto the field next year.
Hosler said it’s comforting to know the team will be reloading once again in 2027.
But with six seniors on this year’s squad – George, Cao, Schaaf, Stickney, Jonah Coffee and Cole Kelley – the Arrows have a chance to add another impressive piece to their program’s legacy.
The historical numbers have been progressively impressive.
Since White first led the program in 1984, the Arrows have put together a 469-259-72 overall mark.
They have never had a losing record in any conference since starting league play in 1988 and they’ve had just one losing record over a full season since 2009.
Impressively, on Saturday against Perry, Ashland also played its 800th game.
It’s a boys soccer history not matched by many schools in Ohio and Hosler tries to emphasize that in conversations with his teams year after year.
“I think there’s a lot of pride in the history of Ashland soccer,” said the coach, whose squad is 14th in Division II in the latest MaxPreps rankings. “… All of those (past AHS) coaches, they all loved and were a part of the program for a ton of years. I just think there’s a ton of pride in it and I’m proud to say I played in this program.
“We preach to the boys that it’s an honor to be able to put the jersey on and represent your school and your city. The biggest thing we tell them is we’re representing more than just the team, we’re representing a city and all the players that played here before us.”
Hosler also credited the Ashland-area youth soccer programs for providing a great feeder system.
If this year’s Arrows are able to snag another OCC title for the team banner and make some noise in their always-challenging Division II Northwest District, it will be another feather-in-the-cap moment.
Lavengood agreed.
“We look at our last conference title coming in 2015 (part of a run of three championships in four years) and we just want to build on that and put another conference (title) on the board,” the sophomore said.
“We’re just focusing on getting back into it (Tuesday) against Wooster and going from there.”
