Cape soccer holds off Wildcats 2-1

When you’re undefeated and ranked as one of the top teams in the state, you always have a target on your back. The 4-6 Delmar soccer squad took aim at the Vikings on Oct. 9, as they fought tooth and nail to knock off Cape. But the Vikings withstood the surge and held on to take a 2-1 victory from their Henlopen South opponent on Senior Night.

After a scoreless first half, Connor Hochrein headed in a pass from Bradley Seneus to break a 0-0 tie at the 42-minute mark. Hochrein was celebrating his 16th birthday.

“We started off slow. We were not connecting, nor were we finding feet,” said Cape coach Patrick Kilby. “As the game wore on, we started to take over possession. However, we explained to the boys that when we play Division I tournament-bound teams we cannot afford to start slow, as we may find ourselves behind early.”

Danio Somoza-Lima added the winning goal on a pass from Bibi Rodriguez at 72 minutes.

Delmar put on a late charge, getting a controversial Ryan Kowalski penalty kick past Cape goalie Forrest Dotterer with five minutes to go.

Cape held on until the whistle to move to 8-0-1.

The Vikings outshot the Wildcats 9-2. Delmar goalie Mason Ball made seven stops, while Dotterer stopped one Delmar attempt.

“We have a two-headed monster in Alan Marin and Forest Dotterer,” said Kilby. “Most teams in the state struggle to find one decent goalkeeper, but we have two very strong goalkeepers that provide stability in the back. We earned another win and we are happy with the result. Defensively, we have have only given up four goals all season, two of which were penalty kicks.”

Cape travels to Polytech Wednesday, Oct. 10, which is a game moved up from Oct. 11.