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2 early goals lift Walsh over Canfield in rematch
By Kevin Connelly
Canfield
Hoping to exact a little revenge after being eliminated by Walsh Jesuit in last year’s District II girls regional final, the Canfield High girls soccer team welcomed the defending state champions to Bob Dove field Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals’ chances of following through on that goal took a hit early in the match, as the Warriors scored two goals in the first six minutes of the game. The state-power from Cuyahoga Falls hung on, winning 3-1.
“Those two goals were very important,” Walsh Jusuit head coach Dino McIntyre said. “It puts you in a position where you can settle down a little bit with the nerves.”
The Cardinals got on the board at the 12:47 mark in the first half after Bailey Fischer was taken down in the penalty area and Paige Bidinotto tucked the penalty shot in left side of the net, cutting Walsh’s lead in half.
“We came out of the gates slow, on our heels, and against a good team like that it’s hard to recover from two goals down,” Canfield head coach Phil Simone said. “This tested us and it showed that we can play with them, though.”
Canfield had chances in the second half, but the Warriors defense found a way to recover each time the Cardinals began to threaten.
“Our defense was really strong and they stayed with [the plan] the entire game which is really tough to do,” Walsh goalkeeper Lauren Demarchi said. “I’m very proud of them.”
With 11:47 left, Demarchi was called for a hand ball inside the penalty area giving the Cardinals their second penalty shot and a chance to tie. Canfield’s Bidinotto went to her left again; however, this time the sophomore goalkeeper was up to the challenge stretching out to block it.
“That won the game for us,” McIntyre said. “She guessed right and she guessed in the upper corner — the kick was a good kick, too.”
The first goal for Walsh Jusuit was scored by Marin Auth on an assist from Juli Knapp. The second score came just two and a half minutes later off a corner kick by Alex Kithcart that Christina Trickett knocked in.
“It set us back a little bit,” Canfield senior captain Elena Billy said of Walsh’s first two goals. “We couldn’t really get our momentum going after that.”
Their third goal came with just 15 seconds remaining after Canfield’s Emma Seybert tripped Sofia Rossi inside the box giving Rossi a penalty shot that she put in the back of the net.
“We know when we come to Youngstown we’re going to play tough, hard-nosed teams, that’s just a Youngstown thing that I love,” McIntyre said. “That’s a well-coached team.”