CORTLAND — To the surprise of very few, Howland and Mooney’s Division II, Northeast 2 District final matchup was a true heavyweight tilt.
After 80 minutes, scoreless. After an additional 15 minutes, still scoreless And after a final 15 minutes of extra time, still scoreless.
With 110 minutes in the book without either side folding, the only way the game could be decided was through penalty kicks.
Even that was a nailbiter. Tied at two PK goals each going into the fifth kicker, Howland’s AJ Sanders broke the deadlock. Then, on Mooney’s final kick, Howland sophomore goalkeeper Carter Jones made the save to give Howland the victory.
“It’s two teams just going out (against) each other and they’re so evenly matched and we knew that coming into this game,” Tigers coach Brian Stiles said. “We were kind of prepping for penalty kicks. We kind of knew the tightness of this field was going to limit the amount of soccer that could take place just because it’s so narrow. We knew goals were going to be difficult to come by, but the kids did a great job and we’re proud of them.”
Throughout the game, neither team was able to hold momentum for more than a couple minutes at a time.
The Tigers would have Mooney pinned in its own end, and almost in the blink of an eye, the Cardinals would flip the script and have Howland pinned. Despite that, neither team was able to break through.
Real opportunities were few and far between and neither team was able to capitalize.
Mooney’s season ends at 11-3-4. One of those ties came in a 1-1 draw with Howland at the beginning of the year.
“This is the type of quality game you get when you have the two best teams in the area going toe to toe, and that’s exactly what we both did,” Cardinals coach Matthew Britton said. “We went toe-to-toe for 110 minutes and then it took five spot kicks to separate us and it was only by one. It’s still the closest margins
“One person threw a haymaker, the other one countered with a haymaker, and that was it the whole game. We had a couple of good chances, and then we were on the backfoot because Howland had a couple clear chances. It was just that the whole game.”
Mooney graduates a class of six seniors including Nick Pregibon, Aidan Markey and Mason Janis.
“It’s a special group,” Britton said. “They’ve never not played for a championship, but that still continues even with kids coming back, but this senior class was special. The hard work, the dedication that they’ve shown over the last four years, I’m going to miss them a lot. And the program’s gonna miss them, but unfortunately, there’s a thing called graduation where you’ve got to move on with your life. But the impact they’ve had on this program has been phenomenal. I can’t say enough good things about all of them.”
Howland has one of its youngest rosters in a while, with eight underclassmen in starting roles.
Every game has been a learning process, but the growth they’ve shown this season is encouraging. At the beginning of the year, Stiles praised the potential he saw in this team, and it’s beginning to take shape.
But they’re not a finished product.
“I want them to keep learning from every game because we are so young,” Stiles said. “I think there’s moments in that game where I would like a little bit more composure and a little bit more leadership on the field to just calm the guys down, but you’re going to have that with a young group. For us, it’s about getting better every single day and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Howland found itself in a very similar position in last year’s district title game against Kenston. After 110 minutes of scoreless action, the Tigers won that on penalty kicks as well.
As exciting as it is, these “Cardiac Cats” games aren’t as fun for the coaches.
“We’re flirting with going the other direction on one of these PKs, so I’d like to be able to get some goals in the course of the game,” Stiles said. “I think this is our sixth district title in the last seven years and three of them have been decided on PKs, so I think for my sake, let’s try to score in regulation.”
Howland advances to the regional semifinals where they’ll take on Mentor Lake Catholic on Wednesday. Start time is set for 7 p.m. at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
