High School Sports

Canfield tops Poland

POLAND -- What started off as a less than desirable evening weather wise turned into a pleasant Wednesday night in April once the rain tapered off at Dave Pavlansky Field.

On the second leg of a back-to-back, Canfield came into its rivalry game at Poland with a slew of injuries, leading to some position changes. Once the Cardinals (5-1) found their footing, a strong first half led them to a 13-10 win for the Battle of 224.

Cardinals coach MeLynda Guerrieri was more than enthusiastic with her squad's effort coming off a win over Louisville the night before.

"We put people everywhere. Olivia Hunter played almost everywhere today. Karley Gerst played hurt, so that's really difficult," Guerrieri said. "We moved our defense around a lot. Victoria did an amazing job, and Dino played really good on defense. We had some ball carries that did a good job. Mia played a position she never played before, so that was new."

It was a back-and-forth type of game early on, tied at 3-3 heading into the first timeout at the 13:14 mark prior to halftime. A steady rain blanked the field over the first 20 or so minutes of the contest, leading to some adversity that you may not see every night.

"It definitely changes the game. The turf was really wet. I kept slipping, I can say myself," Gerst said. "Our sticks were really loose, and the rain obviously can affect it with the humidity and everything, too."

Once pieces starting falling into place, Canfield found its groove, scoring five goals within the last 6:46 of the first half, three coming off of free positions, the other coming on a great set design that was cashed in by Hunter, the other a quick strike off the crease with only seconds left in the half by Radhika Uppal.

The Cardinals led 8-5 at halftime, in big part to Hunter's four first-half goals, but she was pleased with the balanced scoring throughout the night.

"It boosts confidence and gives people the right mentality to keep playing as a team," Hunter said. "It gives everybody the opportunity to show their full potential and makes them feel good."

"We play well together, we're a big family and we really work together well. I came in more confident, I was doubting myself yesterday but I came in with the right mentality tonight."

The parade continued as the Cardinals led as much as 12-6 as the clock began ticking down in the second half, but Poland (0-3) wasn't ready to lie down. Sarah Forsyth maneuvered past Josie Sipe on defense to kick-start a 4-0 Bulldogs run, including a pair of scores from Lucy Harrell.

Thwarting the Poland comeback, Gerst saw Wednesday's win as a testament to her team's resilience.

"We definitely grew our confidence. With new goal scorers, it definitely helped them get their spirits up and lead the team to more goals and everything, especially with playing yesterday too. We are tired, but we put 110% out there," said Gerst.

Gerst and Hunter each tallied four goals, Ashlyn Elford adding three. Abby Crowe and Uppal rounded out scoring for Canfield, Mady Hecker recorded 14 saves in between the bars.

Having a mix of players earning multiple hat tricks is a theme Guerrieri would like to build on this spring.

"That's exactly what we're looking for. I keep talking to these girls and try to pump them up for what they can do, and tonight some of the girls that felt like they had taken a back seat to some of our frequent scorers thought, hey, I can do this too," Guerrieri said. "We've all been telling them that, but tonight I think it proved to them that it can."

For Poland, Forsyth led with four, Harrell (3), Sellers (2), and Victoria Balestrino (1), who had a nice score off a bounce shot during the first half.

Bulldogs coach Mara Banfield wasn't discouraged to be on the wrong side of a loss, especially against a quality opponent like the Cardinals.

"Canfield is always a really good team; I have a lot of respect for them. They have a youth program that's pretty successful, so I was really proud of my kids tonight, they played hard," Banfield said. "I wish there were a few more minutes on the clock and we maybe would have come back."

Banfield's message to the team during the second half?

"Just keep fighting. Four goals is not a significant amount in lacrosse, we can score a goal in about ten seconds, so the kids kept fighting, they refused to give up and I'm really proud of that."