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Malinky's corner kicks lead to goals in Canfield victory
By BOB ETTINGER
RAVENNA
Canfield midfielder Macey Malinky has complete confidence that when she lets loose with a corner kick, a fellow Cardinal is going to get to the ball and come away with a goal. On two occasions, Malinky’s teammates did exactly as she knew they would and the Cardinals shut out Richfield Revere, 2-0, for a Division II regional semifinal victory at Gilcrest Field in Ravenna on Tuesday night.
“It’s just knowing that when I kick it, one of my teammates is going to have my back and get on the ball and put it in the back of the net,” Malinky said. “That’s one of the stronger things we do — kicking it and getting it in.”
The Cardinals (14-2-4) will play Mentor Lake Catholic, a 2-0 winner over Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, for the regional title on Saturday at a place and time yet to be determined.
“We’ve played them in the past,” Canfield coach Phil Simone said. “We played them last year. They’re very good. They’ve got a junior who’s a Notre Dame of South Bend verbal commit so they’re going to be very tough. Our seniors got knocked out by them in overtime when they were freshmen so they’re hungry for them.”
Chloe Kalina took a Malinky corner off the chest and settled the ball at her feet to freeze the goalkeeper in place before calmly knocking it past her for the Cardinals’ first tally with 1:21 to play in the half.
“I just try to find the ball in the air,” Kalina said. “I just try and put my body in front of it, try and get whatever body part I can on the ball. I just knew to relax and try to put it in the back of the net. Don’t overthink it when you’re in there. I knew I couldn’t just get it off my chest. I knew I had to get a foot on it and so I just tried to bring it down and got it in.
”It’s awesome. It’s awesome as a team. It was a big team effort. It’s awesome. Scoring a goal is about the whole team celebrating. That’s the best part of scoring a goal.”
Beside a late attempt in the first half that was thwarted by a defender at the post and a free kick that was sent wide in the closing minutes of the second half, the Minutemen (7-13-1) didn’t get many opportunities to put the ball in the net the rest of the way.
“The back line between Camryn [Kohout], Ashley [Story], Ally [Stein] and Ellie [Accordino], they’re all young and they’ve just grown as the year’s gone on,” Simone said. “I know defenses don’t get a lot of credit most of the time, but tonight they did a phenomenal job. They did a phenomenal job from the midfield back keeping them out of our own end. It was excellent.”
Once Canfield found an opening in the defense midway through the first half, the Cardinals’ confidence grew.
With 15:35 to play in the contest, Alana Petracci got to a corner from Malinky that had somehow missed its original target and redirected back toward the goal. The keeper didn’t have a chance to get there and the Cardinals held a commanding 2-0 advantage.
“I always look for the rebound,” Petracci said. “I always follow up on the ball. I think what I’m best at is following up on the ball and pretty much putting my entire body into it and leaving it all out on the field. When I kicked it, I knew it was going in. I knew it was high and I saw the goalie was on the left side. I know my shot’s going to the right side. I was 100-percent sure it was going in.”
Canfield keeper Lauren Slanker had four saves in the shutout.