ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Ryan Davenport’s disliking of one sport has led him to play another at the collegiate level.

Friday afternoon, the St. Clairsville senior soccer standout announced he will attend NCAA Division III Ohio Northern University to continue his academic and athletic careers.

“I played soccer when I was little and then I stopped to play baseball. I hated baseball,” he said. “So I went back to soccer and somehow I became pretty good at it.”

The 6-4 goaltender was a little better than “pretty good” as he earned Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class 4A Player of the Year honors as a senior. The 4-year lettermen and 3-year starter also earned All-OVAC and All-Eastern District honors as a junior and senior, as well as all Buckeye 8 as a junior. He finished his career with 14 shutouts.

“I selected Ohio Northern because it has very good academics and my degree that I want to go into, which is pharmacy,” Davenport explained. “It has a zero-to-6 program which there is only one other college in Ohio that has that.

“It also feels like home there,” he continued. “I met the coaches and my teammates. They are all super-friendly. I already feel like I am a part of the family.”

Davenport also looked at the University of Findlay.

“I will definitely need to work on my time management because I’m going into one of the most difficult majors that they provide, while also playing soccer every day, six times a week,” he stressed.

St. Clairsville head coach Gary Watt is excited for Davenport.

“We’ve other other guys go to college and play soccer, but not like this,” Watt acknowledged. “Zach Oliver is finishing up his career at Thiel and a handful of other guys have played a year or two, but Ohio Northern is a premier program and this is a wonderful opportunity for Ryan.

“This is absolutely deserved. He was one of the premier goalies in the Ohio Valley,” Watt added. “I think it’s a good fit. We’ve been up there and seen them in action. We’ve been to a couple of camps there.”

The Polar Bears compete in the Ohio Athletic Conference with the likes of Mount Union, John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace, Marietta, Heidelberg, Muskingum, Otterbein and Wilmington. They have recorded 21 consecutive non-losing seasons and have 13 straight winning seasons. They were the OAC Tournament runnersup in 2018 and have claimed eight OAC Tournament championships, along with a like number of OAC regular-season crowns. They were 13-7-2 last year.

Ohio Northern was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally in 2016. It was the 2012 NCAA Division III national tournament runnersup; made the 2008 Elite 8 and the 2011 Sweet 16 national tournaments. The Polar Bears have made eight NCAA Division III national tournament appearances and have recorded an 11-8 record.