CARDINALS RULE

October 26, 2012 at 12:05a.m.

Poland bounced in blowout

By Brandon Judeh

CANFIELD

Chalk up the latest round of the “Battle of 224” rivalry to Canfield High’s girls soccer team which ousted Poland, 7-0, on Thursday for the Division II district crown.

The Cardinals matched a record by recording their eighth consecutive shutout.

“We came out flat today, but Canfield is a great team,” Poland coach John Cavalier said. “They move well without the ball.”

Fourteen minutes into the game, the Cardinals (16-3) had seized control. First, Paige Bidinotto nailed a goal from 15 yards out. Twenty-eight seconds later, Canfield struck again after Sophia Mancini stole the ball and led a fast break. She found the back of the net to give the Cards a commanding two-goal lead.

“It gave us great momentum, and after that we really picked it up and just kept going,” Mancini said.

Eighty-four seconds later, Bidinotto set up Bailey Fischer for a 3-0 lead.

“After getting a few goals in a row, we really picked up our momentum and got really excited and ran away with it after that,” Bidinotto said.

Fischer returned the favor to Bidinotto later in the game when she picked up an assist on Bidinotto’s second goal.

Canfield advances to the regional at Ravenna where the Cardinals will play Hathaway Brown on Tuesday.

“We have to come out and play harder than we did last year in regionals,” Mancini said. “We have the experience though and we have played at Ravenna before so we know what to expect.”

Playing 640 consecutive minutes of scoreless soccer makes Bidinotto and Mancini proud.

“We are setting a lot of standards, we always set our goals high,” Mancini said. “To go along with the scoreless streak, we have also gone undefeated at home this year.”

Bidinotto added, “One more game and we will have the Canfield record for most consecutive shutouts.”

Fischer scored a second goal while Elena Billy and Haylee Klacijk each netted one. Olivia Governor and Victoria Villano combined for the Cardinals shutout.

Poland came into the game riding a five-game winning streak, but was unable to slow the speedy Cardinals.

Jessica Rutana made five saves for Poland (13-6).

“I’m really going to miss our seniors that we are losing, they are great leaders and the best leaders I have had in years,” Cavalier said.