Kirtland closed out the home portion of its regular season schedule with a 3-2 win over Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin on Thursday.
Jared Ianiro scored two goals, Stjepan Mijic-Barisic pitched in with one and Sanjay Sundararajan and Kyle Work both had saves in the win. Caleb Cardon earned a penalty kick, which Ianiro converted, and Danny Jahnke had four saves for the Hornets, who improved to 11-3-1 overall and won their fourth straight game and third of the week.
“That was a physical game that took a lot out of us,” said Kirtland coach John Valentic. “To go 3-0 this week says a lot about our character and resilience.”
Valentic changed up some things in the second half and the Hornets responded.
“Kyle Work hit a great free kick to me from half and I just brought it down and shot it,” Ianiro said. “It was a great pass. Also, Caleb Cardon had a great run into the box on the third goal. He was dribbling in the middle of the box and drew a foul and got us a penalty.”
Ianiro believes the win over the Lions and four-game winning streak will help the Hornets carry some momentum into the playoffs.
“This definitely is a confidence booster heading into the postseason,” he said. “It was a great game against a good team who had a lot of tough players.”
The Hornets close out the regular season at West Geauga on Thursday.
