Staff photo / John Vargo Canfield's Adam Schrock, who scored the Cardinals' first two goals, connects on a header as Girard's Riley Drennen looks on Tuesday night at Canfield. The Cardinals won the Division II sectional first-round game, 4-0.

CANFIELD — The Canfield boys saw the way Tuesday’s Division II Niles District sectional first-round game unfolded.

It mirrored the Cardinals’ season.

Tenth-seeded Girard’s defense started to tighten up on seventh-seeded Canfield, and not much was happening for the Cardinals early in the contest. There were some shots — mostly wide left or above the crossbar.

Girard’s Jonathan Moore did his best hockey goalie impression by trapping the ball between his legs — not letting it go through the five hole with less than 30 minutes left in the half.

It was indicative of Canfield’s slow start to the season in that first 20 minutes, along with Girard’s stellar defense.

It’s a good basis for the Indians in the offseason.

“We go into every offseason knowing we have to be the most conditioned in the area because the numbers aren’t there,” said Girard coach Zach Stamp, whose team was playing with 14 players and finished 5-11. “We came into a game like this against Canfield where most people think we didn’t have a chance. We held them to one in the first half, one in the second half and two late. I couldn’t be happier with all my players’ performances.”

Canfield coach Christian Silvestri knew the Indians had a strong presence on the pitch.

“We weren’t sleeping on them at all,” he said. “Everyone was doing their part and that’s what really wins games.”

Cardinals sophomore Adam Schrock took care of business with 18:21 remaining in the half as he took a pass from fellow sophomore Connor Mulichak (one of two assists) and banged it in on the left side of the net for a 1-0 lead.

He added a penalty kick with 36:57 remaining in the second half after sophomore Teegan Mitchell was taken down in the penalty box. It was a 2-0 lead for Canfield (5-9-3), which celebrated the 4-0 win and looked back on the progression of Tuesday’s game and the season.

“It feels great,” Schrock said. “We started off slow. As the season went along, we progressed as a team and came together. Now, we’re seeing the results of that.”

Moore saved a PK with 34:28 remaining. It was one of his six saves. Canfield had another attempt, but it went over the crossbar.

Canfield’s David Schmidt and Zack Ahmed added bangers from 20 and 30 yards away to finish the Cardinals’ shutout. Connor Hecker had two saves.

There were a host of Poland soccer players in the home stands watching Canfield play. The second-seeded Bulldogs host the Cardinals on Saturday at 1 p.m., in a sectional bracket final.

“It’s going to be a good game,” Silvestri said. “We didn’t give away all of our tricks because we knew they were here.

“They have a good coach. We’re coming in hot. It’s going to be a good game.”