43
Determined Cardinals make first-half goal stand in victory over rival Falcons
Determined Cardinals make first-half goal
stand in victory over rival Falcons
By BOB ETTINGER
AUSTINTOWN
Both Canfield boys soccer coach Christian Silvestri and his counterpart, Austintown Fitch coach Tim Walsh, felt their respective teams had left something on the field when they battled to a draw just more than two weeks ago. Silvestri feels much better after the Cardinals’ 1-0 victory at Fitch Falcon Stadium on Tuesday night.
“Our record hasn’t been great,” Silvestri said. “The fact we came out and got a 1-0 win over a good team means a lot to us. [The difference was] heart. We led, 1-0, at the half, the last time we played them, too. This time, we were able to hold on.”
On the other hand, Walsh felt Fitch (3-4-1, 2-3-1 in All-American Conference Red Tier) lacked the very thing the Cardinals (5-5-2, 2-2-1) used in the win.
“My hat’s off to Canfield,” Walsh said. “They played a great game. [We didn’t have] heart. We lack leadership. We lack guys who will step up to the occasion.”
Tyler Cole scored the lone goal in the eighth minute on a ball that was bouncing around 15 yards out in front of the net.
“It was a rush of adrenaline both before the shot and after,” Cole said. “I saw the ball bounce and no one was there. I couldn’t ask for more than the ball to be right at my foot. I was just thinking don’t skyrocket. ‘Twenty pushups’ was running through my head.”
That was an issue Silvestri and his staff had addressed.
“In practice, we’ve been working on getting those opportunities in front of the goal and finishing,” Silvestri said. “We’ve had a lot of those opportunities in games and we’ve been missing them. We finally got one.”
That scoring chance was an opportunity the Falcons could have prevented.
“We played passive,” Walsh said. “You’ve got to hand it to them.”
Jad Jadallah had five saves in the shutout, just one in the second half.
“As a goalie, I tell myself, especially in a 1-0 game, that I might not make 12 saves, but it’s that one moment when you have to make a save because the team needs you. It’s not comfortable, but the team needs you.”
Though the Falcons only had the one shot on goal in the second half, they had opportunities. Most of them sailed high or wide of the net.
“We have trouble in our attacking third,” Walsh said. “It’s been going on all year. We’re trying to get it in shape. We’re not there yet.”
The entire second half was played at breakneck speed, to the point it felt like everything could change in a single moment.
“It was all heart,” Cole said. “We knew what we were getting into before the game and I think we executed it greatly.”
Jadallah was happy to see the Cardinals close out the victory.
“I told the guys in the locker room at the half we were a first-half team,” Jadallah said. “It showed this time and it showed last time. We haven’t finished the second half in previous games. Today, in the locker room, I told the team we needed to show we can put 80 minutes together. Though we didn’t score in the second half, I felt like we wanted to be there. In the first minute of the second half, I knew we weren’t going down without a fight.”