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Vinopal scores two in Mooney victory
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Mooney's #2 Amy Vinopal moves the ball up field during a game with CVCA.
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Cardinal Mooney’s Lindsey Parkins (8) battles for possession of the ball with Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s Katie Cook (9) during a soccer match Wednesday in Struthers. Mooney won 3-1.
By Brandon Judeh
sports @vindy.com
STRUTHERS
It was Senior Night for the Cardinal Mooney girls soccer team and they wanted to go out on top against Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy.
Mooney prevailed 3-1, thanks in large part to senior and captain Amy Vinopal who notched two goals, one in each half.
Mooney coach Frank Sikich told his team it needed to control the tempo. The Cardinals took his words to heart as just 45 seconds into the game Lindsey Parkins blew past the Royals defense and scored.
“We jumped on them quickly and I kept on them to not come out slow like we did on Saturday against Hathaway Brown [a 5-1 loss],” said Sikich. “The goal that Lindsey scored in the first minute was huge, especially on Senior Night, it really got the girls going and pumped them up.”
The Cardinals’ (10-2-1) speed was the biggest factor in the game; despite the muddy field conditions at James J. Simon Sr. Park, and the Royals were not able to keep pace.
Trailing 2-0 with less than 30 seconds left in the first half, CVCA had a chance to gain a little bit of momentum heading into halftime. They had the ball in front of the goal when Royals senior Leah Arnold attempted a shot that was on its way to sailing into the left corner, but senior goalkeeper Rachael Letscher made a spectacular diving deflection.
In the 13th minute Vinopal of the second half Vinopal scored her second goal to give the eighth-ranked Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
“Going out and scoring quickly and adding on got our confidence up a lot,” said Vinopal. “Whenever a team can score that quickly is huge and it gave us a winning attitude, we set out to win this game and beating a big team like CVCA is great.”
In the 19th minute of the second half junior defender Kayla Kutchin kicked in a goal to put CVCA (8-4) on the board. But Letscher stopped the remainder of the Royals’ chances.
“I have a nice group of seniors, there are eight of them and their leadership skills are fantastic,” said Sikich. “It’s going to be fun in the playoffs because there are several strong teams in Division II including Poland and Canfield. I can’t wait.”