Prep Report: Wave upend Seahawks
The last time the Cape Coral Seahawks and Fort Myers Green Wave met on the soccer field the Seahawks knocked the top-seeded Wave out of the district tournament in late January.
The stakes weren’t nearly as high Tuesday night as the teams tangled, again, at Cape’s Dave Warkentin Field, but it served as an important early-season test in the new District 4A-11.
Midway through the first half, the Wave seized the momentum and defeated the Seahawks, 3-2.
The Seahawks (4-1) had posted four straight shutouts to open the season, but allowed their first goal to Fort Myers’ Michael Siegel with 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Wave (4-0) dictated the action for the remainder of the half and took a 2-1 lead with nine minutes remaining on a goal by Jacque Francois.
After surrendering their first goal of the season, the Seahawks had trouble maintaining possession of the ball in the final 10 minutes of the half.
“When they scored the first goal, since it was our first goal allowed, I think we panicked a little bit as a team,” Seahawks coach David Torres said. “We got a little nervous and started losing the ball and kicking it around. We got away from the fundamentals.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Santi Villamil had his shutout streak snapped, but made four saves. The Seahawks played under control defensively in front of Villamil for the first 25 minutes of action. The Wave were unable to create many opportunities.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks had two prime chances in the first five minutes. They cashed in once.
Just two minutes in, Kevin Lopera lofted a pass in front of Fort Myers keeper Michael Thompson. It got through to Shane Pacheco for a wide-open look, but he was unable to get off a clean shot.
Four minutes into the match, senior Guillermo Duque gave the Seahawks a 1-0 lead on a blast from the center, just inside the 18-yard box. It was deflected in off a defender.
After the first water break, the Wave began to control possession. Brendan Collins used his speed and ball-handling to set up a few chances and the attack continued with Siegel and Francois finishing to make it 2-1 at halftime.
The Seahawks picked up the pressure for most of the second half, but the Wave scored a key insurance goal with about 23 minutes left. Jackson Long gathered the ball from about 20 yards away and quickly blasted a shot past a diving Villamil.
Trailing 3-1, the Seahawks fought hard for the final five minutes. Duque added his second goal with about three minutes left to cut the deficit to one.
To conserve time, Lopera raced to get the ball out of the Fort Myers net, but was called for an unsportmanslike foul.
The Wave managed to control the ball in their offensive zone after the ensuing kickoff, running off a lot of time in the final two minutes.
“Great early test,” Torres said. “They’re a real strong team and it’s going to be what we’re going to face at the end of the year.”
Mariner 4, Cypress Lake 0: Senior Kyle Turner scored two goals and goalkeeper Matt Brust recorded his first career shutout, lifting host Mariner to a District 4A-11 victory over Cypress Lake.
Brust made six saves. Junior Juan Rincon contributed one goal and one assist, and senior Lansky Fradlin scored one goal.
Christian Marin and Matt Isherwood each tallied one assist.
The Tritons (3-1) host North Fort Myers Thursday.
Island Coast 2, LaBelle 2: The Gators broke a scoreless tie with two goals in the first five minutes of the second half only to have LaBelle rally for two of its own and settle for a tie.
Dan Chica and Brandon Palimino got the goals for Island Coast (0-3-1). Goalkeeper John Simpson made 21 saves.
The Gators host Bishop Verot Thursday.
Girls Soccer
Mariner 4, Cypress Lake 1: Kelsea Whitaker knocked in two goals to spark Mariner to road victory over Cypress Lake.
Nicole Romano and Amanda Seny each contributed one goal while goalkeeper Samantha Greenwell made 15 saves to preserve the victory.
The Tritons (3-2) host a multi-team tournament Saturday.
Cape Coral 0, Fort Myers 0: Cape sophomore Amanda Kopale made 12 saves in a scoreless tie against host Fort Myers.
The Seahawks (3-1-1) played a strong defensive game in support of Kopale. Sam Morreal, Emily Daniels, Lauren Holloway and Ciarra Hunter helped defensively in forcing the Wave to take many shots from the outside.
Cape hosts South Fort Myers Thursday.
Ida Baker 2, Estero 0: Though the Ida Baker Bulldogs have won a lot of matches in recent years, coach Dave Trepkowski considered Tuesday’s win over Estero one of the most complete performances by the Bulldogs.
“It’s the first game in five years the girls came out and played the entire game,” he said.
Monique Elliott scored one of the goals on an assist from Payton Van Horn, and Brittney Herrera scored an unassisted goal.
Ali Hare and Sami Fisher sparked the defensive effort in front of goalkeeper Natalia Ortiz.
Baker (5-0) hosts Cypress Lake in a key district game Thursday.
LaBelle 8, Island Coast 0: The Island Coast Gators are taking steps in their first varsity season, even if it didn’t show on the scoreboard in their loss at LaBelle.
“We played 70-plus minutes and are showing great improvement,” Gators coach Tammy Bayly said.
The Gators are back in action Thursday when they host Bishop Verot (0-4).
Bishop Verot 1, Gateway 0: Senior Megan Barton scored an unassisted goal in the 33rd minute of the second half to lift Bishop Verot over Gateway Charter.
The Vikings’ goalkeepers, Chryssie Gibson and Cailyn Rizzo, did not face a shot on goal in registering the shutout.
Verot (6-1) hosts Dunbar Wednesday.
Girls Basketball
North Fort Myers 32, Mariner 22: Susie McKeever tallied 11 points and Garielle Edwards added nine to lead North Fort Myers to victory at Mariner.
Mariner’s Ashley Mercado topped all scorers with 12 points. Ann McClure contributed four points for the Tritons (0-2), who play at Lehigh next Monday.
Sports editor Jim Linette contributed to this report.