ABOVE L-R) Heather Jolliff, William Jolliff, Logan Jolliff, Ada High School head coach Aaron Acheson, assistant coach Ezra Dietering.
By Cort Reynolds
ADA – Ada High School senior Logan Jolliff will be staying close to home next year.
On November 12, the scoring ace signed a letter of intent to attend and play soccer at Ohio Northern University.
Jolliff scored 31 goals and passed out 10 assists this past season to help lead Ada to a sparkling 14-5 record. His 72 points led the team, and were just eight shy of the program single-season record of 80 set by Andy Fetter.
Jolliff set the school single-game record for goals by scoring nine at Cory-Rawson late in his senior season. He broke the previous mark of eight set by Jake Poling in 2020.
“ONU is close to home and the competition is good,” said Jolliff of his decision to stay in his hometown to attend college. He said he also was recruited by Tiffin and Heidelberg.
Jolliff said the Polar Bear men’s team is losing 15 seniors, so there may be a chance for him to step in and make an immediate impact next year.
“I hope to bring my attacking mindset. I hope I can bring some goal-scoring there,” he said. “I just need to work hard. The coach said I need to improve my positioning to score and I could get out there.”
At 5-7 and 141 pounds, Jolliff has great speed and acceleration. He possesses good foot skills and a powerful shot.
“The important things to Logan were to play college soccer and be close to family,” said Ada head coach Aaron Acheson of his decision. “ONU has a very successful, nationally-ranked program. They have been very competitive for several years.
“Logan had a great senior season – he made first team All-NCOSA, all-district and all-state,” he continued. “He put in a lot of work and had his best season stat-wise. But we also had our best team record in his four seasons this year. We had more wins his senior season than we had in his previous three seasons combined.
“He loves the game and is very dedicated,” Acheson added. “I am happy for him. ONU fit everything he was looking for.”
As a junior, he broke out with 16 goals and eight assists. Jolliff recorded seven goals and seven assists in an injury-marred sophomore campaign. He had tallied 12 goals and four assists as a 5-5 freshman.
Over his Ada career, he netted 66 goals and dished out 29 assists to tally 161 points.
ONU is 13-3-4 this year and will play Franciscan College (13-1-5) out of Steubenville this Saturday in round one of the NCAA Div. III tournament at Granville.
The 14th-ranked Polar Bears went 7-1-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play to finish second in the 10-team league this year, behind only Mt. Union (8-1).
Chris Matejka is the men’s head coach at Northern. A 2013 ONU graduate and former team captain, he has compiled a 69-30-20 record in six seasons at the helm of his alma mater.
Jolliff plans to major in sports management.
Classmate Nathan Williams, another senior soccer standout at Ada and the program’s all-time assists leader, is also considering playing at ONU next fall.
