Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. Mooney sophomore Peyton Campbell beats the first half buzzer, scoring the first of her two goals. The Cardinal beat Poland 9-8 Tuesday evening on the road.

POLAND — A career record, back-and-forth scoring, and a nail-biter of a game that came down to the literal final seconds of the contest.

Tuesday’s showdown between Cardinal Mooney and Poland had plenty of action as the Cardinals earned a 9-8 road win to spoil the Bulldogs’ season opener.

Mooney coach Toni Chahine was more than happy with her team’s second-half effort, especially after falling behind 6-5 following a Poland run.

“The message of the whole game was to just settle. These local matchups are highly emotional games for us,” said Chahine. “Trust in what we know, play as a team, and I think they came together towards the end.”

The highlight of the evening came with roughly 30 seconds left in the match when junior Ella Szalay tallied her 100th career goal to take a 9-7 lead. It was her second score of the contest to go along with an assist, but an important one considering how tightly contested the game was.

A moment was allowed for her teammates to rush the field and take a team photo with signs honoring the achievement.

“Shock, but I was also proud of myself, and proud of my teammates for working together to get me to this point,” said Szalay. “I had faith in myself, but I didn’t expect it to come to me this early in my career.”

Similar to many other athletes that play lacrosse in the Mahoning Valley, Szalay picked up the sport a few years ago as a freshman in high school instead of at a younger age like many do in the Cleveland area.

It was a love she didn’t realize she had after years of soccer at the youth level.

“I never expected to play lacrosse, but starting now, I just fell in love with it, and it just shows you can just have a few years under your belt, and it’s impressive,” said Szalay.. “Just because it is not very popular around this area and no one really knows how the game works, I just like the speed of it.”

Earlier on, it was slow going for both teams, but the Cardinals (4-1) scored three goals over the last 3:15 of the first half, including a buzzer-beating tally through a pair of defenders from sophomore Peyton Campbell.

The Bulldogs (0-1) punched right back with a run of their own to kick-start the second half, as two of those three scores came by Ava Sellers to give Poland the 6-5 lead.

Tied at 7-7 at the 2:03 mark, senior Addison Stacy broke the deadlock with a solid shot near the crease. She led the Cardinals with three goals prior to Szslay’s late score.

“A lot of our team is new, and I think they really stepped up, really helped us out, and not afraid of competition and these better teams and local teams,” said Stacy.

Seconds after Mooney took a 9-7 edge, Poland’s Sarah Forsyth scored quickly following the draw. What ensued was some intense moments with 23.7 left on the clock, especially when a foul was called with 1.7 seconds left, leading to a free position opportunity for Lucy Harrell. But, her shot landed wide right.

Despite owning a two-goal lead with 30 seconds left, the contest proved that’s still plenty of time.

“I think we were all pretty on edge, pretty nervous, but lacrosse is a really back-and-forth game and I don’t think anyone was like, we’re going to lose. We were still in it and didn’t back down,” said Stacy.

With limited schools in the local area sponsoring lacrosse, wins are nice, but wins over the likes of Poland, Canfield, or Boardman always mean something a bit more.

“I think just mentally because we are so close with the Poland girls, that was difficult and with our skills, they’re a great team and they always had that battle. So, I was expecting a lot, but I’m proud of us,” Szalay said.

Chahine adds “We are a newer team, we have a lot of girls that are playing for the first time, and so seeing those girls being able to contribute is something that’s really going to take us far in the long run.”

Senior Sarah Schaller and junior Angelee Blasko each added a goal for Mooney. Junior goalie Alyssa Ray added seven saves. For Poland, Forsyth led all scorers at four goals, Harrell and Sellers scored two apiece.

Dropping the first contest always leaves a bit of disappointment, but Poland coach Mara Banfield was more than happy with the effort her team displayed.

“Really proud of our team, proud of both teams, it was really good lacrosse tonight, it just came down to the details and just refining a couple of things,” said Banfield. “They definitely fought and they know they have it in them now, so I expect the next time to turn into a win.”

“Senior leaders stepped up big time, played hard, really proud of them.”