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Top of the heap
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Canfield sophomore Alana Petracci heads the ball toward the goal in Monday’s 5-0 victory over Austintown Fitch in Canfield.
By Greg Gulas
CANFIELD
Raquel Abel notched her third shutout of the season as the state-ranked Canfield High girls soccer team defeated Austintown Fitch 5-0 in All-American Conference Red Division action Monday at Bob Dove Field.
Sophia Mancini had two goals and an assist while Bailey Fischer registered two goals for the Cardinals, who are the number three team in this week’s state coaches’ poll of Division II teams.
The Cardinals remain undefeated in three home outings as Abel rejected all four Falcons shots on goal.
Despite the lopsided score, it took the Cardinals’ offense nearly 35 minutes to get kick-started, but goals by Fischer and Mancini gave Canfield (5-1, 4-0) a two-goal advantage at halftime.
Fischer’s goal came at 5:03 and Mancini’s tally 67 seconds later as the majority of the opening frame was played on the Falcons’ (3-2-1, 2-1) side of the field.
“I was playing wide, looked for the ball wide and when I got it was able to take it down the line,” Fischer said of her goal. “I took the shot and placed it in the top right corner of the goal.
Mancini assisted Haylee Klacik at 37:13 of the second half for a 3-0 lead.
Mancini and Fischer connected again to round out the scoring.
“When you play an elite team like Canfield you get a good idea of where you stand as a team,” Fitch head coach Tex Martin said. “We have a lot that we need to work on.
“They played the second ball better than us and that’s what we need to work on right now if we expect to get better.”
Fischer said her second goal ”was like the first but I was looking for the ball through their defense and then used my speed to place it once again in the top right corner.”
Mancini said she took advantage of what the defense was giving her on both of her scores.
“The defender was right there, but I was able to break away and was fortunate to get the ball past the outstretched arms of their goalie [Soriya Rezapourian] for the first goal,” Mancini said.
“The second goal was a little different in that I received the ball at the top of the 18-yard box, saw some space, took the shot and it found the back of the net.”
Possession was the key according to Cardinals’ head coach Phil Simone. The Cards have outscored opponents 27-9, 21-4 in league contests.
“A lot of teams are trying to keep their defenders back on us and we’re figuring that out,” Simone said. We had some good combination play tonight and while possession was big for us, we’re also starting to move off the ball much better as well.
We preach to the team to be up for every game because there’s a target on our backs,” Simone said.