CR rides off with 1-0 win over Cape
The Cape girls’ soccer team could not take advantage of a brisk wind April 23 that has historically favored a Vikings’ offensive. On the other hand, rival Caesar Rodney capitalized on the beneficial breeze, riding back north with a 1-0 victory.
Cape coach Patrick Kilby wasn’t sure what team was going to show up against the Riders following a recent trip to North Carolina.
“For our girls to come out tonight with the heart, desire and the fight to fight through those 80 minutes, it was certainly fun to see,” Kilby said.
Breaking even in shots and corners, both Henlopen North combatants generated looks on the frame, but stout backlines handled most inquiries.
With the wind at their back in the first half, Cape asked questions with crosses and services into the six, but CR’s defense had the correct answer each time.
“We're not sending numbers forward when we get the ball into the middle third,” Kilby said. “It’s something we can work on in training, but it's something the girls need to have ingrained in them to just build in the backlines and go forward.”
Cape’s Bri Burrell and CR’s Eva Sheppard were both sharp in goal, coming off their lines a few times to sniff out chances. Sheppard ended with seven saves in her clean sheet. Burrell’s clean sheet bid would end while she was on the bench recovering from a leg injury suffered in the 55th minute. Freshman Brynne Fox, who has the trust of the coaching staff, stopped a couple of blasts in her stead, but a tactical team error at the hour mark led to the Riders' lone goal.
“We pushed [Kiersten Smith] high for a long throw-in and we knew that [Ky’Leiah] LaRue had speed and that they had a little bit of speed up top,” Kilby said.
LaRue jetted downfield and through Cape’s backline before passing to a streaking Elizabeth Serrano who had a one-on-one with Fox. As Fox began to commit, Serrano placed her game-winner into the bottom-left corner to make it 1-0.
An exhausting search for an equalizer proved to be in vain for the Vikings and the girls left the pitch defeated for the third time in a row.
“We took a chance – it didn't work – but I still felt like we were the better team,” Kilby said.
Cape (3-6) welcomes Lake Forest (4-4) at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, April 25.
