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Teamwork behind Mooney lacrosse turnaround
By BOB ETTINGER
YOUNGSTOWN
Lexi Saunders didn’t like the impression the Cardinal Mooney girls lacrosse team had given her schoolmates during the first three years of her career. As her senior season races toward its conclusion, the Cardinals have turned a corner.
“A lot of people thought we were a joke because we lost so much,” Saunders said. “There are so many people who want to play now because we’re not as bad.”
Saying the Cardinals are not as bad is a bit of an understatement. After finishing 4-14 a season ago, Mooney has completed the regular season with a 14-2 record and had an 11-game win streak snapped in a 17-5 loss to traditional power North Canton Hoover on Tuesday night.
“I’m so proud,” Saunders said. “As a senior, I never thought I’d see that happen.”
The Cardinals will open the Division II state tournament with a battle against Canfield, a team the Mooney has never played, at Mooney on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“I’m proud of them because they never gave up on themselves [during the tough years],” Mooney coach Toni Chahine said. “We went from 38 girls last year to 24 this year. Those 24 girls have stuck with me. They never gave up on the team and they never gave up on themselves. I’m proud they’ve made the adjustments. They’re wanting to win instead of coming out here to have fun.”
The Cardinals lost just three seniors from the 2018 edition, but Chahine wasn’t sure what to expect heading into 2019. A talk she had with the girls might have been the difference maker.
“We had a talk at the beginning of the year,” Chahine said. “I told them I don’t expect them to be best friends, but we all needed to have a common goal. There are days they’re tired and don’t want to play. There’s going to be drama. They’re in high school — it’s inevitable — but their personal lives have nothing to do with what we’re doing out here.”
The Cardinals took that message to heart.
“We’ve worked better as a team this year,” Maeghan Williams said. “We’ve worked more as a team and we’re passing the ball more. We’re motivating each other rather than bringing each other down.”
To that end, Mooney has averaged 13 goals and five assists.
“Our younger people got a lot better,” Mariah Farragher said. “Everyone was underestimating us. People had started to get selfish [in the past].”
Williams had 41 goals to lead the team entering the contest with Hoover, Anna Wollet had 24, Farragher had 23, Saunders had 22 and Olivia Alfano, Mia Stana and Katie Enright each had 19.
Stana led with 20 assists, Saunders had 14 assists and Farragher had chipped in with 11.
“Their attitudes dropped,” Chahine said. “They started to realize they have to play as a team. They can’t play as 11 individuals. They started to share the ball and not care who scored the goals. Once they got that feeling of what winning was, they didn’t want to ever go back.”
While the offense has been putting up big numbers, the defense has kept teams from matching the offense.
Sophomore Ava Szalay leads the team with 18 interceptions this season. Junior Nicole Rotunno has nine interceptions on the season with help from other defensive juniors. Mariah Farragher has seven, while Olivia Alfano and Angela Proia each have six.
Annie Driscoll, new to goalkeeping this season, has limited the damage against her. She is ranked second in Division II in goals allowed with five per game. She has saved 53.8 percent of shots.