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Late goal saves Cape 2-1

By Staff | Jan 28, 2009

YUNET JOMOLCA Baker’s Jonathan Alvarez (7) tugs on the shirt of Cape’s Andrew Torres in a race to the ball in Tuesday’s District 5A-15 tournament game. More photos from the Seahawks’ 2-1 win are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.

The Ida Baker Bulldogs and Cape Coral Seahawks picked up where they left off from their two previous meetings on the soccer field this season.

All three encounters, including Tuesday’s District 5A-15 Tournament match, were grueling contests filled with momentum shifts. In addition, each came down to the wire.

The teams were staring at overtime Tuesday night at Baker, but with less than two minutes remaining, fifth-seeded Cape got the deciding goal in a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Baker.

Junior defender Gaston Sola headed in a corner kick from senior defender Nick Gillogly for the game-winner.

If the score had remained tied, the teams would have continued with two 10-minute overtime periods and then possibly a penalty kick shootout.

YUNET JOMOLCA Cape junior Gaston Sola (13) heads the ball in another direction during the first half of Tuesday night’s District 5A-15 game against Baker. More photos are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.

“I didn’t know if I could go another two overtimes. They’re a physically exhausting team,” Sola said of the Bulldogs. “It was a great cross by (Gillogly).”

Though both players responsible for the game-winning goal are defenders, the Seahawks practice the set play often. Gillogly takes the majority of the their free kicks and Sola has good height, which makes him effective in a crowd.

“I knew their defense is strong in the back and their goaltender (Jose Zuniga) is amazing,” Gillogly said. “I just saw (Sola) and thought if I could put it on his head he would put it in the goal.”

The late goal was nothing new in this season’s trilogy between the city rivals. The Seahawks (10-7-4) scored with less than a minute to play in the first meeting, resulting in a 2-2 tie.

In the second regular-season meeting, Nick Presti scored the only goal on a header with about 10 minutes to play, lifting the Bulldogs to a 1-0 win.

YUNET JOMOLCA Baker sophomore Nick Presti kicks the ball ahead in the Bulldogs’ District 5A-15 soccer tournament game against Cape High Tuesday night. More photos from Cape’s 2-1 victory are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.

Both teams expected another tight match.

“Sometimes it’s a game of inches and it went their way,” Bulldogs coach Mick Whitewood said. “Give Cape the credit. They played with great character and pride.”

The Bulldogs (10-7-3) are a young team and an emerging program. They’ll lose only three seniors from this year’s squad which posted the most wins in school history. They had never won more than three games before this season.

Still, the Bulldogs had plenty of chances of their own to advance to Wednesday’s district semifinals.

Both teams came out trying to get the first goal, but the defenses were equally prepared. Zuniga, the Bulldogs’ goalkeeper, and Cape keeper Santi Villamil were on top of their game.

YUNET JOMOLCA Cape senior Andrew Torres (11) celebrates with teammates after scoring Cape’s first goal in the first half Tuesday night against Ida Baker. More photos from the District 5A-15 tournament game are available online at: cu.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com.

Near the midway point of the first half the Seahawks began to seize control offensively behind the play of Kenny Segura, Andrew Torres and Guillermo Duque.

After some quality chances, Torres converted on a chip to the far left post, putting the Seahawks ahead 1-0.

That score stood until the final two minutes of the half when the momentum shifted to the Bulldogs. Junior Brandon Stevens hustled into the offensive zone and fed Nick Presti for a blast that tied the game 1-1 at half.

The back-and-forth nature continued throughout the final 40 minutes until Sola broke the deadlock.

“It was a chess match like our other two games,” Seahawks coach Aldo Nardiello said. “There were times when we gained momentum and there were times when they gained momentum. As is often the case, a set play made the difference.”

Cape plays top-seeded Fort Myers in one semifinal match Wednesday at Mariner after host Mariner plays Barron Collier at 6 p.m. in the other semifinal.