Evans scores twice as Mooney handles Ursuline

Ursuline v. Mooney Girls Soccer

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By Dan Hiner

dhiner@vindy.com

Youngstown

The Cardinal Mooney girls soccer team’s offense was almost nonexistent during the first half of the season, but the Cardinals scored early to beat Ursuline 4-0 Wednesday night at Youngstown State’s Farmers National Bank Field.

Cardinal Mooney (4-3-4) scored two first-half goals to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. Senior Bre Evans scored twice as Mooney improved to 4-0-2 over the last three weeks.

“We’ve been working together for so long and we got to know each other and how [everybody plays],” Evans said.

Evans got the Cardinals on the board with a goal nine minutes into the game and Anna Wollet scored off an assist from Lexi Saunders with 12:40 remaining in the half.

Evans scored her second goal of the night off a penalty kick with 11:10 remaining in the second half. Grace Venturella added some insurance with a goal three minutes later.

Ursuline (2-9) rarely possessed the ball throughout the game. The Irish attempted just three shots, but none were on goal. Cardinals goalkeeper Skylar Huda finished the game without a save.

“As a coach, it’s always nice when you don’t have any shots and your goalie has a nice, easy night,” Cardinal Mooney coach Tom Beck said. “That’s what you want.

“It speaks so much about how well we kept the ball and every single player that stepped on the field — their willingness to commit the system we play and keep the ball.”

When the Irish had a chance to move the ball into Mooney territory, the Cardinals’ back line and midfielders quickly got the ball away from Ursuline’s attackers.

“The defense did excellent,” Beck said. “It was great and Inidka [Torma] on the back line — she’s a senior captain. She does a very good job back there.

“It was more organized and they were communicating, which is always nice to see too as a coach.”

Ursuline goalie Tanner Schade finished with five saves and the damage could have been worse. The Cardinals had several shots miss wide of the net and one shot in the second half bounced off the post.

Ursuline is in a bit of a rebuilding year. The Irish have seven new players on the roster and several hadn’t played high school soccer before.

“I have 17 girls. I have a few that don’t have a lot of soccer experience,” Ursuline coach Roy Schmidt said. “As a matter of fact, quit a few haven’t played outside of rec leagues coming up and now into high school.”

On top of having an inexperienced roster, the Irish had two starters out for the game with concussions and the younger players were forced to fill the void.

“[Cardinal Mooney is] a stronger team, they’re a deeper squad ... that was obvious,” Schmidt said.

Beck’s system has taken some time to develop. Earlier in the season, he told his players to be patient and eventually their misses would turn into goals.

“It’s always very nice to see your game plan, your strategy you want to implement, starts to actually work,” Beck said. “It’s cool because it means the kids are getting what I’m trying to teach them and the lessons I’m trying to convey.”