Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Cardinal Mooney’s Aidan Hryb (11) and Howland’s Jak Kenney (18) battle for a head ball Wednesday evening at Youngstown State’s Farmer National Bank Field. In its 1-0 win, Cardinal Mooney broke a 5-year scoring drought against Howland to improve to 3-2 this season.

YOUNGSTOWN — Over the past five years, matches between the Howland and Cardinal Mooney boys soccer have been fairly high scoring and one sided, in favor of the Tigers.

Wednesday night was unlike years past, with both teams meeting for a defensive duel.

The deciding goal came with 19.6 seconds remaining in the first half as Dante DeGenova used his head to find the back of the net and put the Cardinals ahead for good as they broke a streak of Tigers dominance with a 1-0 victory.

“We were trying to score early, Howland always loves to score early, we did want to keep possession of the ball, we did well,” said Cardinal Mooney’s head coach Matt Britton. “We forced them into areas they didn’t want to be, we played around them. Overall it was a great performance, the intensity and effort in this game has been much better than it’s been in previous years or even so far this season.”

Mooney outshot their foes 19-1, with them playing the role of the aggressor throughout the first half on the attack. With a few opportunities on goal coming within inches, the Cardinals finally cashed in.

“I was just open back post and it was a good service by Alex LaPlante and we just put it in, and I think that kinda set the tempo in the second half for us,” DeGenova said. “It felt like I had pretty good connection, I thought it was going to go in and I’m glad it did.”

“We get a bunch of chances and we only put a couple in, but I guess that’s all it takes if we can keep getting shutouts.”

Howland came into the match winning their first four contests, including three clean sheets. Knowing how sharp the Tigers offense can be, Mooney came into the evening wanting to create opportunities while limiting Howland’s.

“Defense wins championships, just talking, communicating in the back, tracking runners and getting the midfield back,” said senior Antonio D’Alesio. “It all starts with the front six, and then it works through the back four.

“We know how Howland is. They like to score, they like to push runners up. Just had to track their runners and make sure that everyone had a runner, especially on the free kicks and the counter-attacks.”

Tigers (4-1) coach Brian Stiles looked at Wednesday evening as an opportunity to turn a loss into a teaching moment as his young roster still learns to catch on.

“We missed a couple of opportunities early on, but Mooney took it to us early on. Once we got kinda situated, we did a little bit better in the second half, but we got to come more prepared in the first half,” Stiles explained. “This is the first time they’ve really faced adversity.”

Cardinal Mooney (3-2) has booked one of the toughest schedules in the state the last few seasons. Both of their losses this season have come against Div. II programs Akron Hoban and CVCA, but all three of their wins have been shutouts.

Facing that level of tough competition is what prepares the Cardinals for moments like Wednesday evening and eventually the tournament.

“We want to be competitive, we want to test ourselves any way we can,” Britton said. “We were able to take what we learned from those two (losses), the physicality. It is a different physicality when you step up a division. Different type of talent and different speed that they play at, and we were able to take that from those two games and implement it into this one.”

Mooney fields nine seniors, many of whom have played together as one unit for years. Their role during the Cardinals state title run in 2020 gave them the experience and edge to finally have a team that’s their own.

For D’Alesio, the fall is just getting underway.

“I definitely feel like we’re underestimated. I feel like we’re a team to beat, a team to be messed with and I feel like teams should be worried when they play us,” he said. “Against Hoban, we didn’t get the result we wanted, CVCA, we didn’t get the result we wanted, so coming in, this was a big game.

“This was a big statement game, and we just wanted to prove that we’re the best team in the area, and that teams should be worried.”