Poland blasts Canfield, advances to district finals
Aiden Davis tallies two goals to lead Bulldogs to 4-0 rout over Cardinals
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POLAND -- Poland remembers how last season ended all too well.
Rival Canfield upended the Bulldogs in a district final showdown and the Cardinals went on to regionals.
"Ever since we found out that we'd play Canfield in this game, it's been on our mind," said Poland senior Aiden Davis. "I bet it's been on all (Canfield's) mind as well.
The season was on the line yet again for the two teams Tuesday night, but this time Poland earned its revenge, crushing Canfield 4-0 in the Division II Akron 2 district semifinal to advance to the district championship.
"It's a new group...but a lot of these guys played in that game last year," said Poland head coach Brian Garcar. "So they had a little bit of extra motivation in this game. We were playing for that group last year and some of the groups in the past too that have lost in the tournament to Canfield. So it was on our minds, but it wasn't the ultimate motivator for us. We wanted to make sure we took care of business just in our own way."
Davis opened Poland's scoring account almost right away in the 10th minute. The Bulldogs' first shot attempt ricocheted off the crossbar, but Davis was able to beat Canfield senior goalkeeper Ali Shalash and the rest of the Cardinals' defense to the ball and put it into the net.
After the goal, Canfield controlled possession as it probed for an equalizer.
The Cardinals generated some chances, but the Bulldogs were able to attack on the counter, spraying the target with shots and finding woodwork 2-3 more times throughout the first half.
"We always try to possess the ball pretty strongly and move the ball and try to spread people out to create gaps we can exploit," Canfield head coach Mike Bailey said. "Poland did a nice job of putting pressure on us and we couldn't get a groove in that first half."
It wasn't until the second half that Poland was able to add to its tally.
"I thought in first half we were a little impatient with our passes and our touches," Garcar said.
Senior Derek Thomas doubled the Bulldogs' advantage in the 59th minute. Poland's first shot was saved by Shalash, but Thomas picked up the rebound and slotted it home.
"I thought as the game started to open up in the second half, we obviously started to create some opportunities," Garcar said. "We had to do a few things that we're not 100 percent comfortable doing. We've repped them throughout the year, but we're not great at them. But give credit to Canfield as they forced us to make those adjustments."
Davis added his second goal of the game to put things to bed with about 11 minutes left. With Canfield pushing forward, Davis was able to get in behind the Cardinals' defense on a breakaway.
"From the opening whistle, (Davis) was on his game," Garcar said. "That's the type of Aiden Davis that we love to see. He's hard to contain defensively and we can get him out in space and give him a lot of time to operate. There's not a lot of defenses and individual players that can stop him, so when he's playing that way, with some of our other talented skill guys, we're a tough team to beat."
Senior Noah Huda then tacked on Poland's fourth and final goal of the night in the 77th minute.
The Cardinals struggled to break down Poland's defense, especially after the first goal allowed the Bulldogs to sit back more.
"I'm not taking anything away from them because they played a phenomenal game and I wish them luck and I hope they win the whole thing," Bailey said. "But it was more or less us trying to find momentum and not piecing passes together like we typically do. It just wasn't our night."
A year after making it to regionals, the Cardinals finished the season 9-2-6, with Tuesday's loss to the Bulldogs being Canfield's first since its season opener against Kenston on Aug. 20.
"We had a great season -- this is my first year here and these guys, give them credit, they bought in from day one and were ready to work, ready to ask questions and ready to learn," Bailey said. "I couldn't ask anymore from these guys. Our seniors were great leaders this year and we're going to miss them dearly."
Third-seeded Poland now advances to the Division II Akron 2 district final at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning against No. 2 seed Painesville Harvey. The Red Raiders defeated No. 6 seed Hubbard 2-0 on Tuesday.