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Lake Catholic ousts Mooney
Cardinals unable to solve Cougars’ defensive scheme
By BOB ETTINGER
STREETSBORO
Cardinal Mooney girls soccer coach Thomas Beck had a strategy for Mentor Lake Catholic entering Tuesday’s Division II regional semifinal at Quinn Field.
And for 35 minutes, the Cardinals were executing it perfectly. But after a brief lapse, the plan fell apart and the Cougars ran away with a 4-0 victory.
“The strategy we had adopted was we wanted to keep them at zero for as long as we could,” Beck said. “The longer we could do that, the more hope they were going to lose and the more hope we were going to build.
“At 0-0, we were looking so good. We fell asleep, didn’t start fast enough, and that was everything. If we get to the break nil-nil, it’s a much different game in the second half.”
Keka Babic broke through with a goal in the 36th minute of the first half to put the Cardinals (13-4-4) in a bad place.
“We did an excellent job for that first 35 minutes,” Beck said. “Once they got the goal with five minutes left [in the half], we were deflated.
“I told them we needed to calm down and weather the storm. Then they scored early [in the second half] and that’s a tough hill to climb down, 2-0. They’re not happy right now and, in the moment, I’m not happy, but they set the foundation for future success.”
The Cougars (13-5-1) will play Richfield Revere for the regional championship on Saturday.
The Cardinals attempted two shots on goal — both in the first half.
“They were just really aggressive,” Mooney senior Bre Evans said. “It’s really frustrating. I still thought we did a pretty good job moving the ball and using combinations.
“[The loss] is pretty hard. We worked our hardest. All the girls were great. They worked really hard and gave it their all.”
Lake Catholic coach Chris Hastings figured out how to defend the Cardinals early and the Cougars adapted well to his instructions.
“They did a good job defensively,” Beck said. “They’re well-coached. Two minutes in, he told them who to man mark. He identified Bre and Carolyn [Kay] and told two girls not to worry about offense, just to shut those two down.
“When you want the ball at your feet, it’s frustrating. It can take you out of the game. That’s a good team. We didn’t play poorly. It wasn’t our best, but it wasn’t terrible. That’s just a quality side.”
Babic added a second goal and Gianna Carcelli and Kennedy Rieple tallied in the second half to put the game out of reach.
“They have a couple of studs,” Beck said. “[Babic and Carcelli] are just two beasts. Like you said, it look likes nothing’s going on, then a little scissors play, they’re taking it to the goal and boom, it’s 2-0. It was definitely the difference maker having two high-level girls like them up top.”