Canfield boys capture AAC Red soccer title

October 3, 2014 at 12:06a.m.

sports @vindy.com

CANFIELD

The Canfield boys soccer team earned two for the price of one Thursday night.

On their home field, the Cardinals (8-4-2) clinched the All-American Conference Red title as they raced ahead of Austintown Fitch and withstood three penalty kick goals from the visitors in a 4-3 victory.

The Cardinals are now 6-1-1 in conference play, having bested Fitch for the second time this season and have a one-point advantage on runner-up Howland (5-0-3).

“It’s an interesting night to have both of those events happen for us,” said Canfield coach Phil Simone, whose team will be trying to defend a Division II district title this month. “We wanted to get the seniors quality playing time. They all did well and then because of it they win a conference championship.

“Emotions are running high, especially when you’re up by a couple goals and the other team comes back. The momentum had swung their way a bit and we were trying to get it back.”

The Cardinals saw a commanding 3-0 lead nearly disintegrate midway through the second half.

After Fitch forward Kyle Cyphert tripped along the goal line to the right of the Canfield goal box, Alex Kilpatrick buried the resulting penalty kick with 27:54 still on the clock.

Forty-three seconds later, the Falcons were awarded another. Cyphert stepped up this time and sent a shot past Canfield goalie Jeff Joseph.

“It’s a little bit frustrating,” said Canfield midfield stalwart Ben Feuer. “We defended well the whole game except for those moments and it’s disappointing that we get scored on only by PKs.”

After watching his twin brother, Frank, assist on the Cardinals’ first goal — which came off the right leg of senior Maleck Saleh barely 10 minutes into the match — and deliver the Cardinals second on a penalty kick conversion with 38:44 left, senior Nick Phillips picked the perfect moment for the first goal of his high school career.

Feuer hit fellow midfielder Christian Hume on a counterattack as the Cardinals exposed Fitch’s aggression. Hume played the ball ahead for Phillips, who beat his trailing defender, took a final touch and snuck a shot past Hunter Klaus for a 4-2 lead.

“We were all talking about it,” said Feuer, a junior. “We all thought it’d be really cool if every senior scored tonight and every senior but one scored. It really doesn’t matter who scored though. As long as we won the game we were happy that we won the conference.”

Brett Lewis recorded Canfield’s third goal at the 31:09 mark of the second half. Max Lumsden mans the left side of Canfield’s defense, having fought off Kilpatrick and Cyphert for most of the evening.

The Phillips brothers are as different as they are similar, Simone said. Few will deny Frank’s place as one of the area’s best.

“Frank’s the more technical and crafty player,” Simone said. “He finds himself in tight situations and can get out in clutch moments. Nick’s a pure hard worker. He will give you everything he’s got all the time.”

Fitch’s third and final goal — after Jarrett Knight tumbled overtop Canfield defender Alex Schill’s slide tackle with 2:41 left — again came from a deft Kilpatrick shot.

The Falcons (5-5-3) could not tie the match as a free kick opportunity and a corner kick at the Canfield goal were impeded.

“The first 20 minutes of the game, we were not at the intensity level that they were,” said Fitch coach Ken Kilpatrick. “They were playing for a league championship and we were playing a game.

“They got that one in early and that kind of woke us up.”