Upper St. Clair blanks Mooney

By tim Cleveland

sports @vindy.com

STRUTHERS

Going into its game Saturday night, the Cardinal Mooney High boys soccer team knew it would be in an uphill battle.

The Cardinals’ foe, Upper St. Clair, is the defending Pennsylvania AAA state champion and is ranked 10th in the country National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

The Panthers lived up to their advanced billing, cruising to a 7-0 victory over Mooney at Simon Soccer Park.

“They have more soccer players than we do,” Mooney coach Lou Cali said. “I felt our effort was there. It was extremely good, especially in the first half. We had a couple mishaps in the first half but otherwise, we can be in the game at halftime and maybe they get a little tense.

“They’re better than any team in the state of Ohio, they’re better than any team we’re going to face in the playoffs, and that’s why we scheduled them.”

Upper St. Clair coach Uwe Schneider said while the victory was dominant, his team took a bit of time to adjust to the playing surface.

“It took us 10 minutes to get used to the grass,” he said. “We got the ball stuck underneath us and stuff. We played well. When my starting 11 is out there, they know what to do. They’re really coming together.”

The Panthers (17-0-1) led 3-0 at halftime, then crushed any hopes Mooney may have had, scoring four goals in a six-minute span early in the second half. Joel Hart scored his second goal of the game with 38:12 to play, then he assisted on Troye Kiernan’s goal with 32:58 left to make it 6-0.

Hart finished with two goals and two assists.

“He’s been scoring really well, like 25 or 28 (goals) or something like that for the season,” Schneider said.

Cali said the outburst was partly Upper St. Clair’s play and partly his own team’s defensive lapses.

“A lot of that was their skill level, their movement off the ball,” he said. “Some of it, we lost some players on the back side and we lost some players in the goal area that we can’t afford to do.”

Mooney had two chances of getting on the board in the final 40 minutes. Kealin Dunston sent a ball across the goal that the defense overran. Christian Elford attempted a backwards heel shot that was saved. Five minutes later, Jake Payne hit a bicycle shot over the top of the goal.

“Jake Payne was outstanding,” Cali said. “That’s the type of effort I’ve been waiting from him for a while. He’s a four-year starter and we anticipate that if he plays that way in the playoffs, he’s going to give some teams fits.”