Seahawks drop tough, 2-1 loss in soccer regional
The sun came up Wednesday morning, just as Cape Coral boys’ soccer coach Aldo Nardiello said it would. At the time he said it, following Tuesday night’s match, some of his players might not have believed him.
The Seahawks suffered a crushing, gut-wrenching 2-1 loss to Immokalee in the Region 3A-4 semifinals at Cape Coral High. An apparent tying Seahawks goal in the final seconds was waived off.
In stoppage time, Cape’s Camilo Avendano lined up an indirect kick about 30 yards away from the goal. It sailed into the net. The first indication from the officials was goal scored. The problem was it was an indirect kick. Someone other than Avendano needed to touch the ball before it went in. The officials decided that no one else had.
The Seahawks, who at first erupted into joy, then found themselves in shock, anger and disbelief. There would be no overtime, no chance to pull the game out.
Nardiello, who called for and got an explanation from the officials, was at first upset but was fine with the call after the game.
“We thought we had scored the tying goal,” said Nardiello. “We thought that somebody had touched the ball, whether one of our players or an opponent. It seemed like they had signaled the goal, but then the officials went back to check and conferred with each other, which good officials should do. Apparently they both realized that no one had touched the ball, and so they made the right call. If it’s an indirect free kick you can’t score directly on it. The referees did what good referees have to do.”
The loss ended the Seahawks season at 21-3, while Immokalee (19-5-2) earned a home match against North Miami Mourning for the 3A-4 regional title and a trip to the Class 3A Florida Finals.
“Nerve-wracking. Nerve-wracking,” Im-mokalee coach Saintano Damas said. “What can I say?”
Damas admitted he wasn’t sure what the call was on the disallowed goal.
When the whistle blew after Avendano’s kick, “I’m thinking offside,” Damas said. “Then it was an indirect kick. So if it goes into the goal it doesn’t count. Also I’m looking about how that kid took the goalie out.”
Jonas Jean Charles, the same Indians player who scored the only goal in Immokalee’s 1-0 win against Cape in the regular season, scored the game-winner. He outran Cape defenders to the ball, then got off a shot from about 25 yards away that found the far side of the net about midway through the second half.
“You could tell we were getting a bit fatigued,” Nardiello said. “I was about to make some changes when that goal went in.”
“He received the ball on the run and the defense didn’t have time to set,” Damas said. “With the momentum and the speed he had it’s hard to defend him on the move.”
The goal that wasn’t in the final seconds wasn’t the only heartbreaking event for the Seahawks. Cape’s Jonathan Jimenez was fouled in the box, earning a penalty shot with 10:29 to play. Indians goalkeeper Carlos Contreras made the save on Jimenez’s PK.
“Penalty kicks, the greatest players in the world miss penalty kicks,” Nardiello said. “When I have a chance to see Jonathan, I will remind him of that. World Cup stars miss penalty kicks. It’s not a hundred percent thing, you know?”
Immokalee scored a quick goal to get the game started. Three minutes into the contest, on the first shot on goal of the night, Kesly Benoit headed Gary Garcia’s kick over Cape goalie Kyal Weber and into the goal.
The Seahawks recovered from the early goal, putting on the pressure and just missing twice. Jimenez and Avendano hit the crossbar. Finally, with 8:21 left in the first half, Jimenez connected with Gianni Cognata, who scored on a long blast.
“We surrendered an early goal, and sometimes a team can collapse, but a team of this magnitude, of this quality, doesn’t collapse,” Nardiello said. “We fought our way back, we scored that goal. We knew in a game like this the next goal was going to be critical. And they (Immokalee) got it.”