Top 4 seeds advance in District 3A-13 soccer
Cape Coral left no doubt Monday night as to which team is the No. 1 seed in the District 3A-13 Tournament. The Seahawks grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first half and never looked back en route to a 5-0 defeat of North Fort Myers in the first round of the tournament at Dave Warkentin Stadium.
“We showed ourselves and others that as the No. 1 seed there is no question,” said Seahawks first-year coach Paolo Acosta. “We are confident and disciplined going after the title.”
Jonathan Jimenez scored what proved to be the game-winner in the game’s first 15 minutes. He was the first of four different scorers for the Seahawks (13-2-4), who take on No. 4 seed Island Coast at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the tournament’s semifinal round. The Gators knocked out South Fort Myers 1-0 in overtime earlier on Monday.
The other semifinal round matchup on Wednesday puts No. 3 seed Ida Baker against No. 2 seed Mariner at 5 p.m. Baker advanced with a 1-0 victory over Lemon Bay and Mariner downed East Lee County 2-1 in other first-round matches.
Camilo Avendano scored one goal and assisted on two others. Christopher Iturbe, Hunter Guerrero and Magner Tiuso also tallied goals with Kevin Rentana collecting an assist. Goalkeeper Kyle Weber only had to make two saves to preserve the shutout as the Seahawks outshot the Red Knights 20-2.
Mariner 2, East Lee County 1: An early goal by East Lee County was almost enough to derail Mariner’s bid for a district bid Monday. East’s 1-0 lead lasted for almost 80 minutes until Mariner scored two goals in the final five minutes to pull out a victory.
Austen Hopson scored the tying goal off an assist by Trevor Jurkowski as the Tritons kept pounding the net. With less than a minute remaining, Steven Schwab gathered up a loose ball in front of the net and burried the game-winner in the net and save the Tritons. Mariner outshot the Jaguars 30-3 with goalkeeper Jake Milos making two saves.
“East’s keeper played really well and kept them in the game,” said Tritons coach Martin Cardenas.
The Tritons (16-4-3) take on third-seeded Baker in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Ida Baker 1, Lemon Bay 0: Edwin Alvarez scored the game’s lone goal midway through the first half Monday to earn the victory.
Teammate Andrew Falk fired a shot at the goal that smacked the crossbar and caromed to Alvarez, who headed the ball into the net. Goalkeeper Trey Crispin made the goal stand up the rest of the way making five saves.
“It was one of those games where we controlled possession throughout the game, but their keeper made some good stops,” said Bulldogs coach Scott Wills. “We played well and just pulled it out.”
The Bulldogs take on the Tritons in Wednesday’s semifinals.