There was certainly cause for celebration after the clock hit zero Monday evening at Boardman High School, as many of the Canfield Cardinals players rushed to grab signs and party favors to help celebrate a major milestone with their coach Phil Simone.

Canfield shutout Boardman 2-0 for their fourth clean sheet of the season, and the 350th victory in Simone’s career.

Excitement was in the air, party horns could be heard buzzing in the cold wind, the team presented Simone with a cake and a card, but after it was all said and done, Simone reflected on his time with the Canfield soccer program.

“It means I’m getting old and I’ve been around too long is what it means,” Simone said with a slight chuckle. “It felt good, and I always say this crew over here, my support that I have from my family, my wife, my son, just the Canfield family in general.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Morgan Carey, left, hits the ball on a header in the midfield against Boardman.

“It’s been 26 years now I’ve been here in total between boys and girls, and just the whole family thing is phenomenal for me.”

The Cardinals found the back of the net early with a quick strike by senior Kailey Charnesky at the 36:56 mark in the first half. She tallied both of the Cardinals goals, which also included a score in the second half.

Scoring on such an important evening just meant more to the senior.

“It means a lot, I’ve been playing all four years with him and him being my coach and pushing me to do my best and playing with all the girls, I’m excited and ready for the rest of the season,” Charnesky said/

Senior Morgan Carey and junior Lauren Yohman each recorded an assist on the Cardinals two goals.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Junior Alli Malinky, left, of Canfield plays defense while Boardman freshman Kendell Scriber tries to make a move with the ball in the second half.

Junior goalkeeper Bayann Jadallah chalked up her fourth shutout of the season on six saves, but had to stay on her toes all game as Boardman kept attacking on the offensive end.

“During those times, we were kind of frantic and my thought process was just, get my body in front of the ball no matter the cost,” Jadallah said “Just protect the ball as much as I could.

“It was a big relief, like I said we were all trying to do this for Simone, and just to pull it off was amazing.”

Boardman (1-2-4) has seen some tough competition in their last two matches between West Branch and Canfield, as Spartans coach Mark D’Eramo is seeing a young team develop with six freshmen starting Monday evening.

“It’ll come, we’re a young team and I don’t use that as an excuse I use that as an exciting thing,” he said “Because it’s going to get better, results are one thing but we’re always competitive, we’re going to give everyone a good game and I feel really good.”

Freshman goalkeeper Faith Walston had 17 saves in her second career start for Boardman after having 13 saves against local powerhouse West Branch on Saturday.

“She’s (Walston) stepped up huge in the past few games against two great teams, and like I said there’s a lot of good to focus on here,” D’Eramo said.

Canfield (6-2) came into the match ranked 15th in the Division II OSSCA poll, and Charnesky feels that she’s on a unique team.

“It’s very special and I wouldn’t want to play with any other team,” she said

Jadallah gave credit to others for her team’s success.

“I feel great about this team, I’m really proud of all of them, and also shoutout to goalie coach Jackie Podolsky,” she said.

For Simone, what’s next?

“Well, we take one year at a time now,” he said with a smile. “If it gets to the 400 mark that means that I’ve been around a lot longer.

“No, but, you know, we’re semi-rebuilding this year, and we’re just taking it one game at a time, looking to get better each game.”