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Lakeview beats Canfield to finally make district final
By Doug Chapin
CORTLAND
After losing in the Division II district semifinals each of the last two seasons, coach Nate Mailach knew where he wanted his Lakeview High boys soccer team in 2011 — in the district title game.
“The pregame speech definitely was, “Let’s take the next step and get this program to where it should be,’” Mailach said. “That’s competing for a district championship year in and year out, not just a one-hit wonder.”
Mailach and his top-seeded Bulldogs (15-1-2) will get that chance after dispatching third-seeded Canfield High, 4-1, on Monday night on a muddy pitch at Don Richards Field. Lakeview will face perennial district champion Cardinal Mooney on Thursday in the district championship game, to be played on the Bulldogs’ home field.
“They’ve won the last 10 or so district titles,” Mailach said about second-seeded Mooney. “That’s kind of been our mission since June to get a high seed in the tournament so we can get a shot at Mooney and go to regional. To be the best you’ve got to beat the best.”
Meanwhile, Canfield coach Phil Simone said goodbye to his senior-laden team which reached the Div. I district championship game a year ago.
“They’ve been an extremely close group with me. It’s sad to see them go,” Simone said. “I made a lot of friendships with them and it’s going to be tough but I know they‘re always going to come back. The good thing is I’ve made some friends for life with them.”
Lakeview jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by freshman Matt Pasternak at the 37:26 mark of the first half and senior Zack Wolff with 27:05 remaining in the half. Pasternak scored after a scramble in front following a throw-in by Louie Novakovich into the mouth of the net. Wolff blasted a shot into the net from about 35 yards out.
The two-goal advantage held until Canfield (10-6-2) scored with 31:34 left in the game when Mike Thomas headed in a throw-in from Tony ElHayek.
Lakeview regained the two-goal lead at the 14:51 mark when Matt Black headed in another Novakovich throw-in, and Jake Young closed the scoring with 3:41 to play with a high, arcing shot from about 25 yards out.
Simone said the field conditions affected the Cardinals.
“We played probably 85 percent of our games on turf this year. That’s a big disadvantage for us coming in,” he said. “We are a skilled team with a short passing game and we knew we couldn’t play that game tonight. So we looked to play a little bit longer to put pressure on them.
“We just couldn’t get that last little ball past them. And then we gave up some goals on set pieces, those set pieces just killed us on the narrow field.”
Lakeview played defensively with the early two-goal lead, but came out of that formation after Canfield drew within 2-1.
“We went a little defensive because they were throwing an extra forward up top and we wanted an extra defender in there,” Mailach said. “We kind of sat back a little on our two-goal lead which I’m not real thrilled about doing. Once they scored and we went back to our normal formation we were able to stick two more in the net and that was the end.”
Canfield finished with a 23-15 edge in shot attempts and an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks. Alex Rosowicz had eight saves for Lakeview and Mike Wittman made three saves for Canfield.