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Mooney girls rout Rootstown
By Greg Gulas
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS
Goals seem to come rather easily for Cardinal Mooney High’s Juliana Vazquez and Elizabeth Philibin.
Shutouts are just as common for Cardinals goalie Samantha Ellis.
Vazquez’s hat trick, two goals by Philibin and a second consecutive shutout for Ellis gave Cardinal Mooney a 6-0 win over Rootstown in a Division III regional semifinal Tuesday night at Brecksville-Broadview Heights Community Stadium.
Cardinal Mooney will play Elyria Catholic at 3 p.m. Saturday at Nordonia High School.
It marks the Cardinals’ first regional final appearance since 2008.
“We had never played Rootstown before, so the first 10 minutes or so we were just sitting back to see how they play,” said Vazquez, who will attend the University of Pittsburgh in the fall and play on the Panthers’ soccer team. “Plus, we usually play on a grass surface and this was turf, so we wanted to get adjusted to the surface as well.
“The goal is to score first, get the momentum and then never give it back. Now we must keep that momentum as we look to the title game this Saturday.”
Vazquez’s three scores gives her 60 on the season. The Cardinals (16-3-1) have now outscored its four tournament opponents by a 34-3 count.
The Rovers (10-8-2), who entered the night 3-0 with two shutouts in tournament play, allowed one more goal than they had allowed by its three previous opponents.
“Cardinal Mooney is a really strong team at both ends of the field. Our goal was to shut down [Juliana] Vazquez, but we failed to accomplish that,” Rootstown coach Ken Moss said. “We’re a good team and can possess the ball, but they took advantage of their opportunities and we did not. We wanted to go in at the half scoreless and then take our chances in the second half.”
The Cardinals struck first when Philibin notched the game’s first tally on a breakaway at 27:34 of the first half.
When Philibin assisted Vazquez on her initial goal at 23:38, the Cardinals built a 2-0 advantage.
Brooke Overly’s goal at 21:31 increased the Cardinal Mooney lead to 3-0 and when Isabel Stoeber assisted Vazquez on her second goal of the game, the Cardinals forged a 4-0 lead at the break.
“Coach [Frank Sikich] told us to work hard and play smart and that’s what we did. Once we score and get the momentum we don’t like to give it back,” Philibin said. “We always want to shut our opponents out.”
Philibin’s second goal of the game at 36:15 after the break gave Cardinal Mooney a 5-0 advantage. Her goal came on a breakaway as the ball snuck past Rootstown goalie Meaghan Hahn, who was unsuccessful in beating Philibin to the ball for a save.
“I was very pleased with our play as a unit tonight. They tried to come down our left side but credit Caroline Buchenic because she shut them down all night,” Sikich said. “We work hard on keeping the ball and our goal is to maintain possession between 60-70 percent of the time. Our expectation is to go the state final four and since no other team from the Mahoning Valley in girls soccer has advanced to the state, it sure would be nice if these girls could become the first to do so as a team.”
Vazquez rounded out the scoring with her final goal of the game at 7:31 of the second half.