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Mooney soccer streak snapped
By BRANDON JUDEH
Girard
The Lakeview High boys soccer team had one thing in mind before Saturday’s district final — end Mooney’s 10-year run of district titles.
The Bulldogs succeeded, defeating the Cardinals 3-0 at Arrowhead stadium.
Lakeview’s Louie Novakovich had an early shot on goal, but missed a wide open shot. After that, he played like a man possessed.
In the 15th minute of the game, the Bulldogs lined up for a corner kick that went to Novakovich who kicked the ball through the net to give his team the lead.
“It felt amazing, I can’t explain to you how it feels to beat Mooney and be district champions,” Novakovich said. “I think we have a great shot at going to state.”
Three minutes later, Novakovich added a second goal on a header that got past Mooney goalkeeper Dalton Smith.
The Bulldogs did not stop there. In the 24th minute, senior Joey Wilson netted a goal off of a free kick that put his team in cruise control.
“We came out really fast today,” Lakeview coach Nate Mailach said. “Our team wanted to move the ball as much as we could and we have a speedster up top in Novakovich and we wanted to get him the ball as much as possible.”
Not only did Lakeview move the ball, they controlled the tempo the entire game by making long passes and setting up good shots on goal.
Cardinal Mooney coach Larry Lencyk said the Bulldogs executed a good game plan that took his team out of their plan.
“They applied a lot of pressure and we gave up three goals, which is something we don’t usually do,” Lencyk said. “We take great pride in our defense, but we just didn’t do a great job in being first to the ball and that is why they are the district champions.”
Though Smith hurt his knee early in the game, Lencyk kept him in the game, a decision he does not regret.
“He was injured throughout the game, but he is a senior and wanted to finish out the rest of the game,” Lencyk said. “I don’t think his injury was a factor.”
In the second half, Lakeview changed their game plan around a bit by sending a couple extra players back to play defense. The strategy worked as the Bulldogs continued to hold Mooney scoreless.
“When we dropped a couple guys back we did it because we felt that Louie could take on their defenders by himself and he did a good job of that,” Mailach said.
Mooney had a chance to score off of a penalty kick by Pat Price in the 28th minute, but his kick sailed over the top of the goal.
Next up for Lakeview are the regional playoffs. Tuesday at 7 p.m., Lakeview will take on Richfield Revere ay Brecksville -Broadway Heights.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Rosowicz feels his team is up for the challenge.
“We are ready to go out and play on Tuesday night,” Rosowicz said. “We have great team chemistry and feel we can take on anybody. We have a great shot.”