Jimenez leads Seahawks’ win despite illness
Cape Coral overcame an aggressive Golden Gate defense, and shut down their offense to record a 4-0 victory over the Titans in the Region 3A-4 quarterfinal Friday night.
The focal player of the game was the Seahawks’ Jonathan Jimenez, who had been fighting a cold and congestion all week. Seahawks coach Aldo Nardiello held him out of the game for the first 13 minutes.
“We knew he was sick, and so we were hoping that we could score without him in the game,” Nardiello said. “But you can see that when he went in he immediately changed the complexion of the game.”
It took only a minute of play before Jimenez scored. He took a pass from Gianni Cognata in the 14th minute from about 25 yards out. He maneuvered past Titans defenders and shot it left-footed into the right side of the net.
The Titans fought back and had their best shot on goal hit the right post just two minutes later.
“We played well, but couldn’t break through their defense,” Golden Gate coach Andy Hernandez said. “When we score early it encourages us, but it didn’t happen tonight.”
As soon as Jimenez entered the game, the Titans defense adjusted. They double-teamed him for the rest of the first half and 10 minutes in the second. Cape adjusted to the double-team.
“We are a team that does more short passing. We played a little more direct with Golden Gate. We did more by-passing the midfield, and more long passes for breakways,” said Nardiello. “We played well, but didn’t score. When you have opportunities like we did early on, and don’t score, this is the type of game that will come back to bite you.”
The game was 1-0 at halftime, and 17 minutes into the second. In the 58th minute, Cognata and Jimenez teamed up again to score. Cognata struck a cross perfectly in front of the goal, so good that the Titans keeper had to commit to getting the ball, but it was just beyond him, and right in the place where Jimenez punched it in.
Jimenez completed a hat-trick in the 73rd minute on a long pass from Jose Parra, outracing the defender to the goal, and burying it into the left side of the net.
The Seahawks’ final goal was a penalty kick by Christopher Iturbe in the 78th minute.
The Titans have been in the playoffs before, but this was Hernandez’s first season as head coach.
“This is a tough area with strong teams. It’s hard to continue to win,” Hernandez said. “Hats off to Cape Coral. They took care of business.”
The Seahawks host Immokalee Tuesday night in the Region 3A-4 semifinal round.
“We played them just before the playoffs, and lost 1-0,” Nardiello said. “We know what we’re facing, and it will be a battle. So far, we’ve gotten past two playoff games – a rivalry game vs. Mariner – and now tonight. My kids are learning to deal with pressure.”