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Mooney ‘out-muds’ Ursuline
STRUTHERS
If such a degree of wetness as a “Slosh Alert” existed, the Mooney and Ursuline girls soccer teams played in it Wednesday night at the Valley Sports Complex.
And, if a “drier” side of the field actually existed, Mooney took advantage of it and scored twice in the first 2:20 en route to an 8-2 win .
“We took the drier side of the field in the first half,” Mooney coach Frank Sikich said.
“We gave them a little bit of the sloppier end of the field, which, I think, made their goalies a little slower,” Sikich said.
“With the elements in the first half, it was who struck first,” Sikich said. “That’s what you’re hoping for in this type of weather.”
Amy Vinopal, Taylor Dambrogio and Taylor Sikich had two goals apiece, while Lindsey Parkins and Jaclin D’Apolito had single scores for the Cards (7-6-1).
“They like to play in this type of weather, so they flourish in these conditions,” Sikich said of Vinopal and Dambrogio, both juniors, and his freshman daughter.
Sophomore Taylor Murphy and freshman Alexandra Colacino scored for Ursuline (3-8-2).
Rachael Letscher was Mooney’s starting goalie, while McKenna Wininger played the last 10 minutes.
Once Mooney had a scoring cushion, Sikich urged his girls to “keep it simple.”
“You have a tendency to drive more and you forget to keep things simple and don’t try to force the ball and play too direct. They tried to play too direct and go over the top. By playing simple, it spreads the field out and allows movement left to right, which is what they got away from. They went too much north and south.”
Ursuline’s third-year coach, Al Conti, said that the driving rain prior to and during the game’s first six minutes had an effect on his team’s game plan.
“It’s very difficult when you’re a passing team. You have to carry [dribble up the field] more and we didn’t really carry the ball. They carried the ball better. In these conditions, you have to keep the ball as close as you can because it’s not going very far. I think we tried to kick a distance, but it just died in the rain.”
Conti explained that Mooney’s speed prolonged the Cards’ ball control and compounded Ursuline’s problems.
“They ran the wings, but carried it all the way down the field, whereas we’d pass it down and it would just die and turn it over.”
Several Irish defenders who had their work cut out included sophomore Leah Carroll and Anny Carroll, as well as senior Julia Kirchner, sophomore Jessica McGeary and freshmen Diamond McElroy.