Cape wins 5A-15 soccer title on late PK
Friday’s District 5A-15 Soccer Championship between city rivals Cape Coral and Mariner began to resemble last year’s meeting in the finals, which had to be decided in a penalty kick shootout.
This one didn’t make it that far, but the intensity and physical play during the 80 minutes of regulation time more than made up for it.
Cape, which lost to Mariner 1-0 in last year’s championship, returned the favor Friday by scoring the lone goal in the second half on a penalty kick by junior Fabian Fajardo.
In the final two minutes at Tony McKenna Field, Seahawks goalkeeper Santi Villamil and his teammates on the field withstood a barrage of corner and free kicks by the Tritons (14-9-4) to claim the 1-0 victory and their first district title since 1991.
“It was a typical battle like last year’s game,” Seahawks coach Aldo Nardiello said. “Mariner is a perennial power. Those kids are so well prepared and they’re very hard to play.”
The Seahawks (12-7-4) have hit their stride at precisely the right time. They entered the district tournament as the fifth seed, but knocked off top-seeded Fort Myers along with Ida Baker and Mariner en route to the district title. They host a regional quarterfinal game next Thursday at Dave Warkentin Stadium.
Despite the loss, the Tritons advance to the regional quarterfinals, but must open on the road Thursday.
If both the Seahawks and Tritons win those matches they will play again in the regional semifinals.
“We want to give special thanks to all the youth coaches that develop these kids,” Nardiello said of the state of soccer in Cape Coral. “We are privileged to coach these kids when they reach the high school level.”
Both teams had their share of opportunities over the course of the match, but the most pivotal moment came with 16 minutes remaining.
Cape’s Andrew Torres received a pass from Kenny Segura on the left side of the 18-yard box and made contact with a Mariner defense, forcing Torres to the ground. A penalty kick was awarded to the Seahawks and Fajardo converted, sliding a shot just under a diving Renato Proia for the only goal of the match.
It was one of several calls during the spirited match that coaches, players and fans didn’t agree with.
“It’s unfortunate that the game was decided on a judgement call,” Mariner coach Martin Cardenas said of the penalty kick.
The Tritons tried to rally as they did Wednesday in a semifinals win over Barron Collier. In that contest, Tyler Korytkowski scored off a corner kick with eight minutes left to tie the game and the Tritons prevailed 6-5 in a penalty kick shootout.
The Seahawks defense held strong, though. They blocked several quality shots by the Tritons in the second half. The Tritons also had a few shots hit the post.
Twice in the final two minutes, Mariner brought keeper Proia up to the offensive zone to take free kicks from about 30 yards away with the rest of the team crowded by the goal.
In each instance, the ball ended up being kicked around several times inside the box, but the Seahawks survived each flurry right up until the time expired.
The win is their sixth straight overall, including three tournament wins.
“Our guys played with a lot of heart,” Cape defender Nick Gillogly said of the late-season run. “We definitely wanted to come out and win (district) this year after losing last year (in the championship).”
District 3A-10 at Sarasota: Will Goss and Chris Singleton broke a scoreless tie with goals in the second half to boost Bishop Verot to a 2-1 victory Friday night over Cardinal Mooney in the championship game.
Mooney scored its goal with about a minute left in the game.
Verot goalkeeper Lucas Polk made four saves to preserve the win.
Verot (16-4-2) will host a Region 3A-3 quarterfinal game Thursday night at Viking Stadium.