COLUMBUS – Fourth ranked Canfield showcased their speed on Sunday afternoon at Lower.Com Field as they dispatched St. Marys 5-0 in a non-league Division 2 showdown.
“Their speed up top collectively was the best we’ve seen all year. We’ve had losses to really fast and skilled teams, Canfield was both of those” said Roughrider head coach Nick Wilson.
After surviving an early rush from the Roughriders, the Cardinals notched the first goal of the game with 24:12 remaining in the first half thanks to Youngstown State signee Hanna Wahib who raced a ball around St. Marys goal keeper Ella Jacobs and into the Rider net.
Canfield ran their lead to 3-0 in a span of 1:08 in the first half on goals by Lorieona Jannone who hit the top left corner of the goal and teammate Vivian Nohra who bashed a shot from the top of the box through with 13:11 before the break.
Purdue Fort Wayne signee and senior standout Maci Toporcer kicked in her career high 30th goal of the season and 71st of her career with 4:19 showing on the stadium scoreboard on a corner kick that bent just under the bar for a 4-0 advantage.
Toporcer’s second goal of the game proved to be the final for either team as she scored with 28:34 to go and put the Cardinals ahead 5-0.
“Every time we step out on the pitch our mission is to learn, improve, and get better. Having to try and compete against a coach (Phil Simone) who has 400 wins, an undefeated team, and three D1 commits was going to be a challenge no doubt. Today we learned and will get better as a result” stated Wilson.
Canfield moves to 13-0-1 on the season and will be back in action Monday as they hit the road to battle Howland.
Next up for the Roughriders (8-4-1) is a Tuesday evening trip into Elida to take on the Bulldogs in a Western Buckeye League clash.
“I’m really happy we were able to get every healthy player on our full roster minutes played on the same field the Crew and the national teams play on. This was quite the experience, I loved everything about our time in Columbus except the game outcome. The Crew allowing high school teams to play there is awesome” opined Wilson on the experience.
Canfield Goals:
2 – Maci Toporcer
1 – Lorieona Jannone
1 – Hanna Wahib
1 – Vivian Nohra