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Walsh soccer topples Mooney
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MOONEY LOSES: Mooney's Ashley Cuba carries the ball during Saturday's 8-1 loss to Walsh Jesuit in Struthers.
The Cardinals, ranked No. 1 in the state, had no answers for the Warriors, falling 8-1.
STRUTHERS — Coach Jason Keller says that if his Mooney High girls soccer team played Division I state power Walsh Jesuit 20 times this year they would probably lose all 20 games.
“They’re that good,” Keller said Saturday after the Division II Cardinals dropped an 8-1 decision to the Warriors at the Valley Sports Soccer Complex in Struthers.
“Sometimes there’s a big difference between a good Div. I soccer team and a good Div. II soccer team,” Keller said. “That’s what you saw out here tonight.”
Walsh Jesuit has been in the state semifinals the last nine years and won the Div. I championship in 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2006.
The Cardinals themselves are a pretty good soccer team and are the top-ranked team in the latest Ohio State Division II Soccer poll after defeating defending state champion Hathaway Brown earlier this season.
The Warriors (5-1) jumped on Mooney quickly and aggressively on the offensive end and had four goals in the first 21 minutes of play.
“We wanted to come out of the gate quickly,” Walsh Jesuit coach Dino McIntyre said. “Our domination in the attacking half of the field was impressive.
“Even if you only get two early goals with that attack it would be tough for [Mooney] to overcome because of all the pressure.”
Walsh got goals from Alexandra Stec, Kelsey Smigel, Brittany Charles and Kendra Simmons in the first half blitz.
McIntyre said that his team, which starts only four seniors and features six freshman, had motivation to come out to Mooney’s home field and play well to avenge last year’s 0-0 tie against the Cardinals.
“That was a motivating factor along with their No. 1 ranking,” McIntyre said. “That 0-0 tie last year was probably the low point of our season and it began our turnaround to a good season.”
Walsh Jesuit outshot Mooney 18-3 in the first half and the Cardinals didn’t get off their first shot until there was just 14 minutes remaining in the 40-minute first half.
Two of Mooney’s three shots were on penalty kicks but the Cardinals’ best chance to score in the first half came on a 10-yard direct kick by senior Ashley Cuba that hit the top crossbar.
The senior-laden Cardinals team didn’t stop playing despite the rout and for that senior Katie Griswold said that will help Mooney in the long run.
“We learned we have a lot of work to do to reach our goals this season,” said Griswold who is a four-year starter for the Cardinals. “We’ve gotten knocked out of the playoffs in the regionals the last three years by teams that went on to win the state championship and we don’t want that to happen our senior year.”
Griswold was the only real offensive threat the Cardinals had against the Warriors. She broke free on several plays with the ball but was stymied every time by Walsh goalkeeper Erin Flynn.
Mooney finally broke the net on a five-yard penalty kick by Maggie Vinopal with 16:02 left in the game.
The Cards were trailing 7-1 at that point and Walsh’s Smigel ended the scoring parade a few minutes later driving the ball past Mooney freshman goalkeeper Rachael Letscher.
“Walsh did pretty much whatever they wanted tonight, Keller said. “They’re a very strong tactical team and their ball possesion is just impressive.”
Keller said his team isn’t discouraged but are a little disappointed with their performance.
“We’ve gone from a very high [point] a week ago when we beat Hathaway Brown to a very low point in our loss tonight,” Keller said. “But these games will go a long way in helping up prepare for the Div. II tournament later this fall.”