Cardinal’s girls’ and boys’ soccer teams pulled off a doubleheader sweep on Thursday.
The girls opened the night with a 3-1 win over visiting Bedford and the boys followed with a 4-0 shutout of Villa Angela-St. Joseph.
“It was a good night for Huskies soccer,” said boys’ coach Mike Topalian. “The ladies got the night started with a nice win, so the guys had to respond. They played well tonight across all lines.”
Anna Blubaugh recorded a hat trick for the girls and Jake Revak did the same for the boys. Todd Wright also scored in the boys’ game.
“We dominated possession and had many opportunities in the game,” said girls co-coach Brian Gallagher. “The defense held them to two shots, one being a penalty kick to tie the game with eight minutes left and that energized our girls. We scored two goals in three minutes by Anna Blubaugh to top her hat trick.”
Cardinal put 26 shots on goal but the Huskies were even more impressive on defense as they limited the Bearcats to just two chances.
“Marina Cooper was a force protecting her goalie,” Gallagher said. “She won every free ball and held down the back line with Mackenzie Conley sensationally. Our forwards and midfielders all had shots and passing was much improved. We’re playing better ball.”
Blubaugh’s first goal gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Bedford rattled a penalty kick off the crossbar to tie it but Blubaugh went on to score two more goals in a three-minute span to lead the Huskies to the win.
Katie Starr assisted on the goal that put the Huskies in the lead, 2-1.
“Katie sent a great ball for Anna to one-touch and score in the upper corner and that gave us the lead again,” Gallagher said. “Anna then drilled a beauty off a steal from the right side and hit the upper left of the goal. That was pure heart.”
While Revak and Wright did all the scoring for the boys, the Cardinal defense also was impressive in recording its fifth shutout of the season.
“I’m really proud of the defense tonight,” Topalian said. “The fullbacks kept the ball off of Austin (Miller) in goal and played a physical game. That’s the fifth shutout but they’ve also had four games only giving up one goal. Zane Drebus has emerged as a first-rate defender.”
Alex Hutchinson and Nate Dhayer had their chances on offense.
“Jake, Alex, Nate and Todd really controlled the field,” Topalian said. “We need to convert on more shots, but it was a solid all-around win.”
