SOCCER | AMY VINOPAL | CARDINAL MOONEY

11“It was a lot of fun,” she said proudly as she joins seven other seniors that have closed their Cardinal careers. “Those girls are my best friends and we’ve gotten so close all through high school. It made high school easier to be a part of a team and our relationship was on and off the field. It’s something that we’ll take through our entire life.”

In 2011, Mooney tried for an encore performance after winning a Division II district championship a year ago. Vinopal netted two goals to build a 3-0 lead over Poland in the semifinals and her team held on to move on with a 3-1 win. The Cardinals failed to repeat as district championships, though, falling to Canfield in the final, 1-0 on Oct. 31st. It was a tough one to swallow, but just having the opportunity to get in that position with an impressive 11-3-1 record left Vinopal with a sense of accomplishment.

“We did a lot better than we thought we were going to do,” she said. “We beat a lot of the teams that we didn’t think we were going to be able to beat. We really only lost to two big D-I schools which is a really big thing because we had a really young team. Wining makes the season a lot more fun.”

Vinopal was a key offensive piece for the Cardinals. They were stacked on the line with quick, speedy and skillful forwards so her 26 assists complemented her 25 goals nicely.

The senior has committed to Duquesne University where she will continue her soccer career in the fall. While she did admit that she will probably change her mind on a major “at least a million times,” Vinopal plans to major in business and will carry a minor in technology.