ELYRIA — No need to stop the presses or interrupt the program. Pointless to start texting people around the country. It’s not exactly news when Elyria Catholic’s boys put a whippin’ on the Elyria High soccer team.
It happened again Saturday at Knights of Columbus Field. In their annual battle for the Elyria Cup, the Panthers drilled the Pioneers 5-0 as junior forward Jimmy Zambo scored a hat trick. EC also got goals from Brian Wood and Evan Cecil, and assists by Ryan Lutke and Matt Bir.
“This is a big game, something we train for the whole season,” Zambo said of the crosstown rivalry. “We look at is as, if they win this, it will make their season. They would be the first Elyria team in nine years to beat Elyria Catholic so, yeah, this was a big game for us.”
The goals were Zambo’s 17th, 18th and 19th of the season. And the victory was EC’s sixth straight over the Pioneers since the teams tied in 2002.
The Pioneers got off to a strong start. Christopher Westgate fired a rocket over the crossbar in the fifth minute on the restart after an EC foul, and Bryce Ziegman worked his way into the Panthers box, where he put a hard shot right at goalkeeper Frank Sanabria.
But Zambo changed the complexion of the match in the 12th minute when he made a long run down the left side, worked his way past the Pioneers defense and scored as he got tangled with goalkeeper Adam Turnick coming off his line.
In the 21st minute, Wood got control in the Elyria box and scored after Michael Haupt dribbled in and was knocked to the ground. Some thought the play should have resulted in a penalty kick.
Zambo completed his hat trick with two goals a minute apart in the first eight minutes after the break. In the 47th minute, he collared a rebound and kicked it in with Turnick off his line and out of the action. And in the 48th minute, he again made a long run down the right side, fought his way free of the Elyria defense with a 360-degree move in the box and scored.
Cecil nailed the crusher in the 54th minute when he kicked in the rebound after a throw-in deep in the Elyria end. The Pioneers made their final legitimate threat three minutes later when Tim Jones, working down the left side, finally took the ball away from the EC defense. But he launched a left-footer over the Panthers crossbar.
“We knew if we came out early and put some pressure on them we’d be OK,” said EC coach Mike Wisnor, whose team improved to 9-5-2. “They’re a young team, as we are, and that’s the thing about young teams — sometimes if you can put them on their heels, it become a little bit easier.”
It was the seventh shutout of the season for Sanabria.
“In the beginning they were strong,” Sanabria said of the Pioneers’ energetic start. “But once we started scoring, they started to fade. My defense made my job easy today. Our defense is very strong.”
Elyria’s Jones earned two yellow cards for rough play in the 62nd and 74th minutes. He was ejected, but under OHSAA rules will be eligible for the Pioneers’ sectional tournament game Wednesday because he did not receive a red card.
“They got a couple goals that we just lost focus on,” said Elyria coach Greg Leininger, whose team fell to 2-10-2. “We weren’t marking up and we weren’t playing tight. We gave them space that they shouldn’t have been allowed.”

EC 5, Elyria 0

GOALS: (EC) Jimmy Zambo 3, Brian Wood, Evan Cecil.
ASSISTS: (EC) Ryan Lutke, Matt Bir.  
SHOTS: Elyria 9, EC 14.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Elyria 1, EC 7.
SAVES: (E) Adam Turnick 3. (EC) Frank Sanabria 2.
CORNER KICKS: Elyria 2, EC 2.
GOAL KICKS: Elyria 13, EC 19.
OFFSIDE: Elyria 5.
HAND BALLS: Elyria 1, EC 1.
FOULS: Elyria 13, EC 19.
CARDS: (E) Tim Jones 2 (yellow), 62nd and 74th minutes; ejection.
HALFTIME: EC, 2-0.

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