Another shutout for Mooney girls

By Doug Chapin

The Cardinals blanked Champion, 9-0, to advance to regional play.

STRUTHERS — Over the last four seasons, the Cardinal Mooney High girls soccer program has been dominant in the area, winning four straight Division II district championships and outscoring their opponents 118-3 in sectional and district tournament games.

That record includes a 33-0 scoring edge this fall, culminated by the Cardinals’ 9-0 rout of Champion on Thursday night in the Division II district final.

Mooney (14-4-1) now sets its sights on regional play, where the Cards have not fared as well, losing three straight regional semifinals. Mooney will play Chagrin Falls on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Ravenna.

With 11 seniors, most of whom have been playing regularly since they were freshmen, the Cardinals look forward to a different result this time at the regional level.

“I think we are more confident this year,” Mooney coach Jason Keller said. “We might play a couple of teams we have beaten or tied this year, and I think we’ll match up well with them.”

On Thursday, Katie Griswold scored four goals, Ashley Cuba tallied three, and Maggie Vinopal and Cassie Trgovich scored one each.

Vinopal recorded three assists, and Griswold, Trgovich and Amy Vinopal all had one assist.

Goalkeeper Rachael Letscher and the backline of Kelly Sklenar, Emma Engler, Kelcie Herberger and Kelcie Price kept the Golden Flashes (14-4-2) from coming close to a goal. Champion was playing without injured all-state forward Heather Beachy.

Mooney ended up with a 35-4 edge in shots — the margin of victory would have been much greater if not for Champion keeper Taylor Petersal, who was credited with 25 saves.

Four goals in a seven-minute period midway through the first half blew open what had been a 1-0 game, but Keller continued to exhort his players to make good decisions and to finish plays in front of the goal. The Cardinals know they need to play at a higher level when they get to the regional.

“We think we played the toughest schedule in Division II this year, so the whole season has prepared us for what’s going to come up in the next couple of games,” Keller said. “We’re pretty happy about where we’re at right now.”

The Cardinals’ regional losses have been 3-2 in overtime to Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown last year, 1-0 to Parma Heights Holy Name in 2006 and 2-1 to Bay Village in 2005. Hathaway Brown and Holy Name both went on to win state championships.

Griswold’s goals broke Mooney’s career goal-scoring record of 102, set by Kelly Willis. Griswold has 105 goals.