Staff photo / Preston Byers Cardinal Mooney’s Abigail Markey (24) tries to corral the ball during Tuesday’s Division V regional semifinal match vs. Kirtland at Boardman High School.

BOARDMAN — Cardinal Mooney, which began the month of October with a 2-0 victory against Kirtland, hoped to finish the month the same way Tuesday.

The Hornets arrived at the Division V regional semifinal at Boardman High School with a different idea, however, and Mooney’s month-long unbeaten streak and, more importantly, 2025 season came to an end in a 1-0 defeat.

“Our girls came back in the second half, and I think they played a hell of a second half,” Mooney head coach Agni Cvercko said. “We had several opportunities that we just couldn’t finish. At the end of the day, we were just unlucky today.”

From kickoff, the Cardinals put Kirtland on the back foot with an aggressive attack, which resulted in two promising yet unrealized opportunities for Julia Diorio within the first two minutes of the match.

Despite limited looks at the net, Mooney continued to largely control possession, and thus, the pace. The fruitless attacks allowed Kirtland to take advantage, though, and that is exactly what Lexi Vosicky did nearly midway through the first half.

Vosicky, in one of the only shots on goal for the Hornets all night, scored from long range by firing the ball into the right side of the net.

“It was a great goal,” Cvercko said. “We didn’t have the middle covered.”

The unlikely goal proved to be the only one Tuesday.

While Mooney maintained its possession edge throughout the rest of the match, it led to relatively few high-percentage chances, as Kirtland’s defense tightened while protecting its lead.

“[They] were packing in the back,” Cvercko said. “What we should have done is taken shots outside more often. It’s hard to play when you have so many in the back there, so we were trying to play the through balls in the back, but when you have that many back there, it’s difficult to do that.”

Still, Mooney challenged Hornets goalkeeper Katherine Bradshaw on a few occasions, including a long-distance shot from Francesca Cassese more than 10 minutes into the second half.

The best chance at tying the match, though, may have been a near-blunder by Kirtland’s Kylie Sayle, who, while trying to clear a cross into the box by Cassese, kicked the ball toward her net and came inches away from an own goal. Fortunately for her and the Hornets, the ball instead bounced off the post before Bradshaw covered it.

Mooney’s attacks grew increasingly frenzied and panicked as time melted away, especially after a corner kick more than 65 minutes in resulted in a shot bouncing off the crossbar in a chaotic scrum in front of Kirtland’s net.

As the clock hit zero on the match and Mooney’s season, emotions overwhelmed many of the Cardinals’ players and coaches.

“This is by far the best team I’ve coached,” Cvercko said. “I’ve had these seniors since they were freshmen. They’re a special group of girls. It’s a great team, and I know we’re going to go far next year, but this group was special.”

Mooney finished the year with a 14-4-1 record, having won each of its last six matches and avoiding a loss in its last eight before Tuesday. The Cardinals won their second consecutive district title, doing so while outscoring opponents 18-1.