Canfield blanks Lakeview to continue strong run

Cards shut out Lakeview to continue strong defensive run

By BRIAN DZENIS

sports@vindy.com

CANFIELD

It’s not exactly ‘Shutempber,’ but it’s really close and still really impressive.

Shutember refers to the 2012 Canfield boys soccer team, a squad that featured current goalie coach Mike Thomas, that did not allow a single goal through the month of September. The 2015 edition won’t reach that height, but the Cardinals are on quite the run. After Thursday night’s 1-0 win over Lakeview, Canfield has scored 23 goals and allowed one through the first six games of the year.

“Every year, that’s our goal and we have a special group of guys and we said ‘let’s seriously try to do it this year,’” Canfield goalie Jeff Joseph said of trying to capture that Shutember form. “Our two centerbacks, Alex Schill and Brandon Seybert and myself, we’ve been starting since our sophomore year, so I know I got a solid four guys in front of me. So we just came in this year and it started rolling, so we’re just trying to keep it going as long as we can.”

Joseph, Seybert and Schill are the focal point of a Cardinals team that boasts 11 seniors. In the rematch of the 2013 Division II district final, the two sides split 20 shots. The Cardinals were somewhat uneven offensively as they got off seven strikes in the first half only to follow up with three in the next.

“It’s a little frustrating,” Cardinals coach Phil Simone said. “We didn’t connect like we typically connect. We got caught up in a kickball game and we usually try to possess. It wasn’t one of our better performances, but we’ll take the W.”

The edge in shots and time in the box in the first half paid off with Lakeview conceding a penalty shot during the final 15 minutes until halftime. Senior co-captain Ben Feuer sniped the upper right corner of the net to give the Cardinals the lead.

Feuer had another penalty shot opportunity early in the second half as Justin Jickess drew the penalty and lost a shoe while being taken down in the box, but this time Lakeview goalie Jackson Gagne made the diving save as Feuer shot toward the lower right of the net.

Lakeview’s best chances came when sophomore Noah Busefink was able to get behind the Canfield backline twice, but Seybert and Schill were able to head him off without getting off a good shot.

Feuer’s last prime chance came near the end of the game as he redirected a corner kick past Gagne only to have a Bulldogs defender stop the shot.

“I think with the seniors we have, 11 guys, it’s just one of those special classes where we knew coming into this year, that we can do something special,” Joseph said of the team’s current run. “We’ve put in the work this offseason, so we just have to keep it going.”