Staff photo / Joel Whetzel. Cardinal Mooney’s Noah Trewella (right) battles for possession with Warren JFK’s Nick Ryan (left) during the first half on Monday at YSU.

YOUNGSTOWN — A season ago, Warren JFK had its season conclude in the district finals with a 4-0 loss to area rival Cardinal Mooney.

Though revenge and that game weren’t discussed, it was certainly on the Eagles’ minds as they traveled to Youngstown State on Monday night to face the host Cardinals. And with a late goal by Luke Rupeka, the Eagles left with a 3-2 victory in a wild game that went down to the wire.

As the buzzer sounded, Kennedy’s players poured off the bench and from the field and immediately sprinted to their fans who traveled to celebrate.

“We didn’t talk about (the district championship matchup) at all before the game, or even during the week before,” Kennedy coach Anthony Ledenko said. “That didn’t come up in our meetings at all, but it was definitely on everybody’s minds. You could tell everybody was still thinking about last year for sure.”

Ledenko also noted it was JFK’s first program win over Mooney (4-1-2). For Ledenko, it’s the next step in what he hopes will be a season to remember for Kennedy (5-0-2).

“We’re trying to do something special this season, so this one definitely is one we’re excited about,” he said.

Mooney had tied the game with 5:18 to play as Aidan Hryb headed in a loose ball in the box. But, undeterred, Kennedy answered with pressure of its own.

After the Eagles earned a corner kick, Riley Littler sent a ball into the box that Nick Ryan got the first touch on. After some scrambling, the ball came to Rupeka, who punched it in to put the Eagles back out in front 3-2.

“I saw the corner come in, and Nick was there. I thought he was going to bump it and hit it,” Rupeka said. “But he just lobbed it and I saw the ball roll in front of me. All I saw was the ball — nothing else — and I just pointed my foot and swung my leg as hard as I could and it placed where it needed to be.”

Ledenko said it’s been a season of having to handle adversity for JFK, which hosts Lake Center Christian on Thursday.

“All year, we’ve scored, then we’ve had to claw back. We’ve given up goals, then had to score again,” he said. “So I think being able to just have that willingness to not give up, that’s a huge thing that this team has compared to years before.”

Littler initially put Kennedy ahead 1-0 late in the first half as he sent a long ball up the field. However, it was misplayed by the Cardinals and found its way into the net.

Mooney tied the game at the 31:35 mark of the second half as Angel Alvarez punched in a goal from along the left goal line and at a fairly tough angle.

But the Eagles answered as Nick Ryan collected a pass in the box and beat his defender 1-on-1 before depositing the ball into the bottom left corner to beat Mooney’s goalkeeper and put Kennedy up 2-1.

“Our mistakes led to every single one of their goals,” Mooney coach Matthew Britton said. “Our defense played well. (Kennedy) didn’t break us down at all, it was just poor play by us.”

With a relatively young roster, Britton hopes to see the Cardinals use this as a learning experience — and fast, because Mooney visits Ottawa Hills on Saturday for what Britton feels should be a formidable challenge.

“It’s just game experience. We have a young team this year, and we’ve got players moving around to new positions. So I guess it’s part of the growing pains you have to experience,” he said.

Britton added, “We’re still looking good. I feel we’re still strong. It was just mistakes today. Mistakes killed us. … It was just mistake after mistake after mistake, but we have another big game. We have Ottawa Hills on Saturday, so we have to turn (things) around here quickly.”

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com