Lightning shortens electric soccer game between Cape, CR
With the match tied at 1-1 six minutes into sudden-death overtime, the May 15 contest between Cape and Caesar Rodney was called. Electricity had been snapping the entire game, but when lightning flashed off to the northwest, the game was ended.
Caesar Rodney girls’ soccer plays a relentlessly fast and hard style, and the Riders (13-1) are well coached by Darrell Gravatt and Dwayne Lavender. The program can run you out of your own house quicker than you can say, “When’s the last time we scored against these guys?”
Answer: Alex Coverdale, 2011, in a 6-1 Cape loss. Alex has since graduated from Virginia Tech. The Vikings have been shut out the last six years versus the Riders, being outscored during that time by a combined score of 49-0, including a 9-0 loss just last season.
When CR’s Kimberly Glasser scored on an unsettled situation off an assist from Megan Powers just 7 minutes into the game, the same old song seemed ready to be played.
But Cape coaches had been working with the Vikings to reach down and play with more heart, to find the extra effort to push themselves. And what developed was the best girls’ soccer game ever played at Cape, very fast and physical, and all balls contested.
One minute into the second half, Sydney Zych found Brooke Hollingsworth off a rebound to tie the game at 1-1. Cape players looked astounded, realizing it was game on.
Drama up and down. Players going down with injuries. Cape lost goalie Lucy Siranides, who twisted her knee. Defender Brayden Fannin put on a scrimmage vest and gloves, and flashed a big smile to signal she was up for the challenge.
Fannin looked precariously out of position on a couple of CR corner attempts, but she saved the day when she used her right foot to pick out of the air a dead-on shot ticketed for a score. She had forgotten she could use her hands.
Morgan Desaulniers had five saves in goal for the Riders. Siranides and Fannin combined for eight saves.
The Riders outshot the Vikings 9-6 with a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.
Cape completes the regular season 9-4-1 and awaits word on the postseason state tournament, expected to be announced Wednesday, May 16.
