Blog

Aug 04, 2023

Canfield remains undefeated, tops Salem 4

Aug 29, 2023 Correspondent photo / Lowell SpencerCanfield’s Hanna Wahib chases after the ball during Wednesday’s contest against Salem. CANFIELD — The Canfield Cardinal girls’ soccer team has come out

Aug 29, 2023

Correspondent photo / Lowell SpencerCanfield’s Hanna Wahib chases after the ball during Wednesday’s contest against Salem.

CANFIELD — The Canfield Cardinal girls’ soccer team has come out on fire to start the 2023 season, winning its first three games in convincing fashion.

The Cardinals came into their contest with the Salem Quakers on Wednesday with a perfect record and had outscored their opponents 21-2.

They didn’t miss a beat against Salem as the Cardinals continued their winning streak with a 4-1 victory over the Quakers scoring three times in the final 26 minutes to improve to 4-0 on the year.

“We know that there is a target on our back typically each year,” Cardinals Coach Phil Simone said. “So, every game is important. We try to do our best each game.”

Leading the way for the Cardinals was senior forward Maci Toporcer who recorded a hat trick in the contest, scoring once in the first half and twice in the second.

“It was exciting, it was a good game,” Toporcer said. “I’m really proud of all the girls for putting the ball in the back of the net and setting up good shots. We moved the ball really well tonight.”

Simone added: “There was a lot of combination play to get her those goals. We talk about that a lot with the girls that it’s not just a single performance but an overall team effort that earns those goals.”

The Quakers, who drop to 2-2-1 found the Cardinals’ defense suffocating throughout the contest, only managing two shots on goal. In the meantime, the Cardinals logged 15 shots with the Quakers’ senior goalkeeper Kaylee Carlisle making several high-quality saves to keep her team in the game.

“I know the score was 4-1, but I was really happy with the defensive effort,” Salem coach Matt Freeman said. “We were down 1-0 at halftime and 1-1 in the middle of the second half and that is a really, really good team that we played. So, there is no shame in losing to Canfield. If it wasn’t for Kaylle Carlisle, that game could have been much worse than it was. She was phenomenal tonight.”

Toporcer opened the scoring with a penalty kick at the 20:01 mark of the first half, then she added two more in the second at 26:05, and again at 7:45. Her two goals were sandwiched around a score by sophomore forward Lorieona Jannone.

“I tried to take my time and breathe,” Toporcer explained about her approach for the penalty shot. “I was focusing on where I wanted to place it.”

Despite the Cardinals dominating the play in the first half, they only held a 1-0 advantage. That allowed the Quakers’ Rylee Hutton to take advantage of a breakaway and notch a goal at the 28:59 mark of the second half to knot the contest at 1-1.

But it only took the Cardinals and Toporcer two minutes and fifty-four seconds to wrestle the lead back in the Cardinals’ favor.

“It’s always great to start the season 4-0. We have put in a great effort, and I think if we just keep going and keep the same drive, we will have a pretty good run,” Toporcer said.

The Quakers will try to regroup as they play at Niles next Tuesday. The Cardinals will take a week off as they will travel to play the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals next Wednesday.

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andre Jackson pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning in his first major league win, and ...