43
Mooney girls soccer runs past United
By Steve Wilaj
STRUTHERS
It took the Cardinal Mooney girls soccer team just 57 seconds into Thursday’s Division III district final against United to accomplish one of its main goals.
“We know we have to get our early jump-starts to get the momentum going,” junior Lexy Herman said. “That’s what we did within the first minute — got the momentum going our way.”
Brooke Overly scored the first Mooney goal with 39:03 remaining in the first period. The Cardinals then added three more first half goals as they cruised to a 6-0 victory at the James Simon Sr. Soccer Park to capture their second consecutive district title.
Mooney’s next game will be on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Brecksville against Rootstown.
“[Winning districts] means a lot to us because before last year we hadn’t done it in a while,” senior captain Julie Vazquez said. “So to be able to do it again my senior year with some of my best friends is just amazing.”
Following Overly’s early goal that was assisted by Vazquez, Herman — on an assist from Liz Philibin — made it 2-0 with a score in the 12th minute. The same combination of Philibin to Herman then hooked up again for another goal with 18:46 remaining.
The Cardinals (15-3-1) first-half scoring barrage was capped in the 23rd minute when Herman set up Vazquez for a kick that found the back of the net.
“We try to get them mentally ready from the start because we can jump on teams with the speed that we have,” Mooney coach Frank Sikich said. “As long as they’re playing together, that’s what we strive for. Jumping on these teams early puts them in a hole and that’s what we want to do.”
Philibin added two goals in the second half — one in the 58th minute and another in the 61st minute — to finish Mooney’s scoring for the night. Philibin finished with two goals and two assists, Herman notched two goals and an assist and Vazquez recorded a goal and an assist.
“Our strategy was to spray the ball wide and pull them out wide so the space would be created in the middle,” Vazquez said. “Then our passes could split through the defense and we could make our runs through and finish.”
“[Scoring early] takes the pressure off. It allows us to focus on the things that we need to do individually and the things that we need to do as a team for future games.”
United finished with an 8-9-3 record.
Rootstown 1, Champion 0
CHAMPION
Jasmine Kemp scored for Rootstown. Carissa Hurst made eight saves for the Golden Flashes.