Late goals lift Tritons 2-0
Play went deep into the second half before the Mariner Tritons broke the scoring deadlock and came away with a 2-0 victory Thursday night over District 4A-11 rival North Fort Myers at Tony McKenna Field.
After the second-half water break, the Tritons netted two quick goals. Juan Rincon got the icebreaker and Lansky Fradlin added one goal for insurance insurance.
Rincon tapped in a pass from Stephen Kong, a play that was started by Christian Marin’s free kick from 30 yards out.
The second score also started with a free kick sent high into the night sky by Colt Masters that North goalkeeper Chris Hamilton batted away. Patrick Lewis gathered up the ball and sent a shot back in that hit the crossbar and caromed to the foot of Fradlin, who buried it in the net from six yards out.
“I told the guys I was not happy with the performance tonight,” said Tritons coach Martin Cardenas. “We didn’t play our best, but we got the win.”
Both halves were played mostly in the middle of the field, back and forth between the 18-yard boxes. Neither team could dent the other’s defenses. A lot of effort with not much to show for it.
North got off five shots on goal in the first half while the Tritons had a late flurry to reach six and finished with an even dozen.
The Tritons came closest to scoring inside of eight minutes remaining in the first half when Marin blasted a long cross from the right sideline that found David Steeb inside the 18-yard box at the left post. Steeb’s header on the play sailed just wide of the post.
Tritons defenders Matt Isherwood, John Teeter and Steeb turned away a number of Red Knights offensive surges before they became shots on goal. Goalkeeper Matt Brust finished with seven saves to record his second shutout.
“We played strong in the back,” said Cardenas. “Things got more physical in the second half. We’re not a big, strong team, so we were getting bumped off the ball a lot, or fouled. The two goals kind of loosened things up a bit.”
The Tritons (4-1, 3-0 district) head to Sarasota Monday for a three-day Thanksgiving Tournament. Their first opponent is host Sarasota.