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Canfield lacrosse nabs crucial win, tops Kenston

Staff photo / Nathanael Hawthorne. Canfield’s Ally Wilson carries the ball down the sideline Wednesday night in the Cardinals’ 11-7 win over Kenston.

CANFIELD — Earlier this season, the Canfield Cardinals and Kenston Bombers tied in a thrilling double-overtime game.

Wednesday night’s regional semifinal, however, had a much different ending with the Cardinals beating the Bombers 11-7.

Canfield started out hot, scoring two goals early in the first half and kept its foot on the pedal as the game headed to halftime with a 6-3 score.

“Kenston’s tough and we knew it. We’ve been playing them since middle school and they’re one of those teams that gets in our head,” head coach MeLynda Guerrieri said. “We knew this was gonna be a tough game. We watched film and really prepared for this game.”

When intermission ended, Kenston came out firing on all cylinders and scored three consecutive goals in a matter of minutes, tying the game at six

Guerrieri said part of Canfield’s game plan relied on winning the draw and controlling the ball. Kenston’s hot start to the half came on the heels of Canfield not controlling the draw.

“We knew the draw was going to be an issue for us because they’re strong and fast,” she said. “We were fortunate to get up early in the beginning (of the game), but in the second half, we weren’t able to get the draw — that’s what caught us. Once we adjusted our draw and started getting the ground balls at the end, that’s when we were able to rally back.”

A clutch Ally Wilson goal gave Canfield the lead once more and the Cardinals never looked back, going on a 4-0 run including a pair of back-to-back goals from Sarah Grohovsky. The nearly 10-minute run was capped by a Campbell Klingensmith goal to put the final nail in the coffin.

The early-season tie gave Guerrieri an opportunity to shake up the game plan and come up with a new scheme to give her team the best chance to win.

“We changed our defense severely… our defense had a huge hole in it. We had a lot of errors and we started out with a lot of errors today. Our first timeout and at halftime, we talked about the errors. We were rushing the ball and had a lot of turnovers because of it,” she said.

Paving the way for the Cardinals was Grohovsky who found the back of the net four times. Ally Wilson added a hat trick and Emily Wilson, Ashleigh Haas, Elena Martin and Klingensmith all added a goal as well.

“When we need something, (Grohovsky) silently can do it,” Guerrieri said. “She helps run our offense and is so gifted with the stick. She puts it in the net without looking like it’s very difficult.”

Grohovsky credits her teammate, Emily Wilson, for being able to almost share one mind and find each other on fast breaks, giving Grohovsky the chance to score.

“On the fast breaks, me and Emily, I feel like we’re a duo on the field. We were looking back and forth with each other. When we slowed down the ball, we really worked in our plays, but overall we had the energy, the play was there and we were ready to go,” Grohovsky said.

On the defensive side, goalie Karley D’Apolito had 11 saves. Many of which were back-to-back saves, which Guerrieri said are very difficult.

“She really responded well to pressure today because we had some bad passes in transition. Once a goalie gets rid of the ball, they have time to settle themselves and take a break. When we turn the ball over in transition, she was right back having to play again. That’s a hard thing for a goalie to do. It’s a mental thing and she got right back in it,” Guerrieri said.

Canfield will take on Chagrin Falls Friday in the Division 2 Region 6 final at Chagrin Falls.

nhawthorne@tribtoday.com

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