Cape soccer earns 9-0 clean sheet over Polytech

Cape soccer moved to 8-0 on the season with a 9-0 shutout over Polytech Sept. 30 at Legends Stadium.

Cape outshot the Panthers 18-3 and held a 7-0 advantage in corners. 

Lawson Whaley, Brenner Short and Hedgie Swier each scored twice in the contest. 

The Vikings came out fired up, but couldn’t find the twine for the first 8:59. Carter Matarazzi finally broke through the defense to score off an assist from Seth Benjamin. Brenner Short tallied his first goal of the game from Benjamin at 20 minutes. 

“It was a solid team win,” said Whaley. “We moved the ball in the first half but couldn't find the back of the net. We made adjustments during halftime. We came out fast in the second half, which resulted in us finding the back of the net multiple times.”

Whaley hit the twine at the 44-minute mark, then again at 48 minutes, both unassisted, with a second tally from Short sandwiched in between. 

Freshman Hedgie Swier scored his brace from Benjamin and Will Burke in the second half. Jackson Hess and Will Burke each tallied second-half goals. 

Cape goalies Anton Schierenberg, Jacob Panyko and Kasan Adams each made one save in their time in the cage. 

Polytech keeper Massey Reece made nine stops. 

With Benjamin’s three assists, he now leads the team with nine on the season. 

“This was a big win for us,” said Benjamin. “We came in with a strong mentality, and coming off eight wins, we knew we needed to be humble. We stayed calm and took care of business. As far as a team, we knew what we were gonna do and we did it. The first half, we had chances, but at halftime we had to adjust because they were sitting in a block formation [trying to create congestion in their defensive third] so we knew we needed a change in the second half.”

The Vikings host Brandywine Friday, Oct. 3.