Cape soccer outplays Indian River 4-1
Cape senior Zack Gelof scored three goals to lead the Vikings to a 4-1 win over 2016 DIAA Division II finalist Indian River Sept. 12 at Legends Stadium.
It was the first Vikings win over the Indians since 2015, when the Indians eventually won the DIAA State Championship.
“It was a huge win,” said Cape coach Patrick Kilby. “Defensive delay as a unit was the key to the win. We knew they had great dribble penetration. Wilberth Gomez is probably one of their top players in regard to taking the ball on the dribble and actually creating options and chances off of him penetrating on the dribble. We didn’t overcommit. We did a great job of holding our ground and defending as a unit and defending with numbers, and that really allowed us to go forward as a unit.”
Kilby was quick to give kudos to his back-line players.
Luke Muclahy, Aidan Spoor, Connor Hochrein and Dane Palmer played out of their minds, Kilby said.
“We were really determined,” said Spoor. “We wanted to come out and win. We knew it was a big game. It’s a big start to our season. We wanted to get some payback for last year. We didn’t think we deserved to lose last year. We really wanted to make up for it.”
Gelof started the scoring on an assist by Spoor at the six-minute mark for the first goal of his hat trick.
“The win really started in our back,” said Gelof. “They played phenomenal. That was where it started, because once we win balls in the back, then we were able to progress in the middle and so on. I give all the credit to our back line and our coaching going into this game.”
Cape passes were on point and were key to long possessions by the Vikings.
“After we got possession, we had our heads up and looking,” Gelof said. “We were checking to the back line and they were winning balls and making it easier on everyone else. Coach Kilby has really been helping us in going side to side and keeping our heads up and finding teammates.”
Christopher Gonzalez added the next goal at the 16-minute mark off an assist from Eric Velasquez-Santizo. Gelof added his second goal unassisted at 17 minutes. Indian River’s Jared Cordoba hit the twine with a goal at the 18-minute mark to pull within two goals.
The first half ended with the Vikings ahead 3-1.
After being pulled down in the scoring box at the 55-minute mark, Gelof was awarded a penalty kick. He didn’t disappoint, fooling the goalkeeper by going low to the lower left corner for his third score of the game.
The Vikings outshot the Indians 13-10 and had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks. Cape goalkeepers Alan Marin-Quirnoz and Jake Gelof teamed for nine saves in the contest. IR keeper Zachary Neal stopped nine Vikings shots.
In junior varsity action, Cape freshman Danio Somoza-Lima scored twice in the second half, his second and third goals on the season, but the JV Vikings could not overcome a three-goal deficit and fell to 1-1 on the season with a 3-2 loss to the visiting JV Indians.
Cape hosts Dover Thursday, Sept. 14, with the junior varsity kickoff at 5 p.m.
