Cardinal Mooney 3-0 winner over Falcons in opener

Fitch simply couldn't get much going offensively.
By DOUG CHAPIN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
STRUTHERS -- Cardinal Mooney looked in midseason form in a 3-0 season-opening girls soccer victory Wednesday night over Austintown Fitch at the Valley Sports soccer complex.
It was the second "first" win as a head coach for Joe DeMay, who took over this year as head coach of both the boys and girls soccer programs at Mooney. His boys team won its opener Monday.
DeMay replaces Alex Simon as girls coach and Len Krispinsky as boys coach.
Simon was honored before the game for his successful tenures as coach of both programs and for his other many contributions to soccer at the school.
Dominant from start
Mooney dominated the game from the start, getting two quick goals just over nine minutes into the game from sophomore striker Katie Griswold. The Cardinals fired off 36 shots to just three for Fitch as fellow forward Mimi Vitello and wings Vickie Dreiling and Alex Sierra demonstrated good teamwork and ball movement.
Dreiling tallied the final goal with about 10 minutes left in the contest.
Center midfielders Mara Luongo and Colleen Hernan provided plenty of support to the attack.
Griswold's first goal came with 31:28 remaining in the first half after she received a pass from Hernan and beat a defender at the top of the penalty area. She scored again with 30:43 remaining after a Fitch turnover in the penalty area. Hernan got the assist.
Despite the dominating performance, DeMay is not sure yet how good his team is.
Awaiting indicators
"We'll be able to assess where we are better after Saturday," DeMay said about the Cardinals' upcoming visit to Cincinnati Indian Hill. "In the preseason it's difficult to evaluate because you're playing different combinations and we don't know what the other teams will be doing. You have to wait until the real games and until you're tested by the teams who play at the level we are shooting for."
Mooney, coming off a trip to the Division II regional, plays an ambitious schedule with opponents such as Walsh Jesuit, Springfield Northwest and Doylestown Chippewa, all among the best in Ohio in recent seasons.
Returning starters for the Cardinals are seniors Dreiling, Vitello and left back Kortney Thomas, who also played well Wednesday.
Fitch coach Carlo Trafficante also has three returning starters from the Falcons' Federal League co-championship season of 2005. But the Falcons simply couldn't get much going offensively on Wednesday.
"What we need to improve on our first touches, our accuracy in passing and changing the point of attack," Trafficante said. "We tried to make some plays but just weren't accurate and on our first touches the ball ended up five or six yards away. Mooney has such speed and quickness, you can't get away with that against them."
Returning Fitch players
The Falcons' returning starters are senior goal keeper Cara Calai and senior midfielders Melissa Byrdy and Jessyca Shuttleworth.
Trafficante said his team is about where he thought it would be at this time of the season.
"Early in the preseason the kids surprised me," he said. "A month ago I would have said we were ahead of schedule. But we've regressed a little bit, we've had some injuries and haven't been able to practice with everyone.
"For the last couple of weeks I've questioned whether we have enough heart to go out and battle on the field, but today the girls proved me wrong. The whole team proved that tonight."
Senior Katie Burns had a solid outing for the Falcons from her midfield position. Calai was credited with 24 saves.
Mooney also won the junior varsity game, 5-1.