Thursday, October 25, 2012
Photo
Cardinal Mooney’s Nick Tkacik (11) keeps the ball away from Salem’s Seth Brine (1) during the first half of their Division II district semifinal Wednesday at the Valley Sports complex in Struthers. The Cardinals downed the Quakers, 5-2, to advance the district final against the Lakeview Bulldogs on Saturday. The Bulldogs defeated Canfield on Wednesday during the semifinal at Cortland.
By STEVE WILAJ
STRUTHERS
The Cardinal Mooney boys soccer team has a key to its success, which — heading into Wednesday’s matchup with Salem — landed the Cardinals in a Division II district semifinal.
“We preach fast starts,” Mooney coach Lou Cali said.
Entering the game, the Cardinals boasted a 7-0 record when they scored within the first five minutes of a match. Following their contest against the Quakers, that record improved to 8-0.
Scoring its first goal just 3:22 into the game and its second goal in the seventh minute, Mooney defeated Salem, 5-2, to advance to a district final against Lakeview on at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
“That’s been our forte this year,” Cali said of his team’s quick start. “Obviously it’s huge. It changes the whole complexion of the game.”
Sophomore Myles Harris got Mooney started, knocking in the first goal. Byron Abrigg, a senior, continued the Cardinals’ fast start when his shot found the back of the net to give Mooney a 2-0 lead.
“We wanted to take it to them right from the start,” Cali said. “We wanted to dictate the tempo and we wanted to be the offensive team right at the start of the game.”
Mooney kept up its scoring surge as a Pat Price goal increased the lead to 3-0 at the 17:46 mark of the first half. .
“Being able to go up 2-0 toward the beginning of the game is a big stress reliever,” Price said. “It allows everyone to calm down, collect everything together and play our game.”
While there was still a lot of soccer to be played, Salem coach Matt Freeman realized that the early deficit was devastating to his team.
“A couple of mental mistakes — not marking up and clearing the ball out of the box — and it hurt us,” he said. “They pounced and we couldn’t recover after that.”
The Quakers answered momentarily, as Brad Larson’s goal at the 17:03 mark cut the Cardinals’ lead to 3-1. But another first-half Mooney goal from Abrigg silenced any thought of a Salem comeback.
“Hat’s off to them — they played a great game,” Freeman said. “They were able to play their game on us and we had trouble adapting.”
In the second half, a second Larson goal briefly cut the Cardinals’ lead to 4-2 before Price also added his second goal.
After gaining the advantage, Mooney was successful at controlling the pace.
“We slowed the game down enough and they got frustrated,” Price said.
Although Salem was obviously upset with the outcome, Freeman made sure to not dismiss his team’s successful season.
“I’m proud of our team,” Freeman said. “We gave it our all and there’s no shame in making it here and losing to a team like Mooney, who is a great team year in and year out.”
Mooney will play in the district final for the 12th straight year when they meet top-seeded Lakeview in Cortland.
“We’re going to work real hard up until the game,” Price said. “We’re going to give it our all.”