Walsh Jesuit's Hannah Pachan delivers for her young fans as Warriors win girls soccer state semifinal
MACEDONIA, Ohio - Some heroes wear capes. But for three little girls in maroon and gold, their hero wears No. 5 for the Walsh Jesuit girls soccer team.
During the OHSAA Division I girls soccer state semifinal at Nordonia's Boliantz Stadium on Tuesday night, three young female Walsh Jesuit fans could be heard cheering "let's go Hannah, we love you!" all throughout the game.
It turns out the kids were Hannah's sister Finley and Marina and Emerson, the daughter and niece, respectively, of Walsh head coach Javier Iriart.
The Hannah they were so loudly cheering for?
That's Hannah Pachan, the 5-foot-4 junior goal scoring machine for the Warriors.
And Pachan delivered for her two smallest fans by scoring a pair of goals for Walsh in a 2-1 win over Strongsville to send the Warriors to the Division I state championship game against Olentangy Liberty on Friday, November 10 at 4:00 pm at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.
The second goal, the eventual game-winner, came on a free kick from 25 yards out in the 72nd minute after teammate Reagan Pentz drew the foul. Pachan stepped up and sailed the ball over the head of Strongsville goalkeeper Abby Kudla and into the back of the net to give the Warriors their first and only lead of the game.
"I looked around at the coaches and I see (Coach Iriart) point at me," Pachan said. "This was probably my second time taking a free kick of the season. So I just lined it up and just took a deep breath, waited a little bit after the whistle, and I just lined it up."
Pachan had tied the game in the 30th minute on a header off a free kick from Pentz. Despite what seems like a lifetime of chemistry between the pair of juniors, they have only been playing together for three years.
"We both just love the game of soccer and we want to do big things when we grow up," Pachan said. "That really connects us and that just makes us a great duo."
When asked about her partner in Walsh's dynamic duo, Pentz talked about how great Pachan is in all aspects of life.
"I can go on and on for days about how good of a player she is and how good of a person she is," Pentz said. "It's easy to be her best friend and it's easy to be her teammate."
Pentz, who scored the game-winning goal in the regional final on Saturday against Magnificat, admires the way Pachan goes about being the best player she can be.
"So she makes it look easy, but she puts in the work and she is so humble about it," Pentz said. "We just work off each other off of that. We make each other better every day and that's something that I really appreciate."
The coach was similar in his praise of Pachan, not only as a person but as a player.
"She embodies absolutely everything we try to do both on and off the field," Iriart said. "I think if you ask anyone who knows Hannah, she's just the sweetest kid. But then when she gets on the field, she's the fiercest competitor. And so that's what we try to do. We try to teach people to be good people first and good soccer players at the same time. Hannah has every inch of that."
Her teammate can also see just why the kids look up to the 16-year-old Pachan.
"She's just a great person," Pentz said. "She's funny, she's intelligent, she's very kind and she's great with kids. That's why her and (coach's) kids are really tight. Her family is fantastic. She's just an amazing person."
Pachan doesn't take it for granted that her young fans are in the stands cheering her on and looking up to her.
"It just means the world that they look up to me and that they always come running to me after the games," Pachan said. "They're truly inspiring me and being a Walsh Warrior, that's what it's about with all the support and it really feels great. It keeps me going."
Walsh Jesuit junior Hannah Pachan heads up the field during the Division I state semifinal against Strongsville on November 7, 2023. Photo credit: Jeff Harwell, SBLive Sports
Jeff Harwell, SBLive Sports
