Wednesday, October 31, 2001
Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin stopped the Cardinals in a regional semifinal.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
RICHFIELD -- The Canfield High boys soccer team waited 10 years for a return trip to the regional tournament.
First-year coach Phil Simone only had to wait one.
And despite losing 4-2 to Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin at Tuesday's Division I regional semifinal at Revere High School, Simone thinks he has the start of something big.
"We had four senior starters and we'll have some tough shoes to fill [next year]," Simone said. "But we definitely feel like we can get back here."
The Lions (16-2-1) took a 1-0 lead in Tuesday's game on a penalty kick by Danny Bartulovic with just over 20 minutes remaining in the first half. Then, with under a minute to go, the momentum swung swiftly toward ND-CL.
Momentum swing: A Canfield player was called for bumping Bartulovic with 38 seconds remaining, awarding ND-CL a penalty kick. Bartulovic made the shot to give the Lions a 2-0 lead at halftime.
"That kind of took the air out of us for a while," Simone said of the goal. "I think it was questionable. There was some bumping going on in the box, but the center referee didn't call anything. The assistant referee on the sideline called the penalty kick.
"If that doesn't happen, it's a different game."
Cardinal sophomore Matt Pietro made it 2-1 at the 28:37 mark in the second half on an assist by junior Julian Donofrio. After ND-CL's Amico DiFranco scored to make it 3-1 with 25 minutes remaining, Pietro took just 20 seconds before firing a rocket from 40 feet out to make it 3-2.
"The kids bounced back well from being down 2-0," said Simone. "I think our playoff jitters took too long in the first half."
Amico scored for the Lions with 12:44 to go to clinch the game. ND-CL out-shot Canfield 24-11.
"Their attacking was strong," Simone said. "They controlled the ball most of the first half. They're very skilled, very fast and very strong."
Tough in goal: Canfield keeper Mark Kime had 18 saves and Lion keeper Anthony Catanese had three saves.
It was ND-CL's first trip to the regional tournament.
The Cardinals (12-5-3) began the season 3-4-3, but won nine straight games entering Tuesday's semifinal, including tournament wins over Metro Athletic Conference rivals Salem and Niles.
"I told them 'Don't hang your heads down low,' " Simone said. "Considering how the season started, nobody expected us to be in this position."