Sussex Academy defeats Saint Mark’s in OT to move to DIAA semis
Sussex Academy senior Andres Romero-Nieto scored off a free kick with 1:36 left in the first overtime period to punch the Seahawks’ ticket to the 2024 DIAA semifinals against Caravel Wednesday, Nov. 13, in Milford. Game time is 5 p.m.
Romero-Nieto got the Seahawks on the scoreboard early when he headed a McKenna Danahy pass at the one-minute mark past Saint Mark’s freshman keeper Thomas Swasey to go up 1-0.
That lead held up until Spartans’ junior Nathan Hughes squeezed one through a flock of Seahawks and past a diving CJ Norton at the 52-minute mark. Gabe Arick was credited with the assist.
The Seahawks held a 13-3 shot advantage and a 4-0 advantage in penalty corners.
Saint Mark’s freshman goalie Thomas Swasey stopped 11 shots, while Norton made two saves for the Seahawks.
“It was exciting scoring two more goals for my high school career,” said senior Romero-Nieto, who has 13 goals on the season. ”It was a tough game. On my first goal, McKenna looked at me, passed it to me and I headed it in. We feel a little pressure from having won the state tournament last year, but we use that pressure to get better. We don’t get stuck in it; we use it to be better than last year.”
“I’m really happy with our performance,” said Sussex Academy head coach R.J. Dina. “I think we had an ideal start – picture perfect. To go up 1-0 in under two minutes was excellent. I think we got a bit too comfortable after that. It took until we conceded to get us going again.”
The team had given up just five goals this season.
“After [the allowed goal], I don’t think it was ever in doubt,” Dina said. “We are an experienced, veteran group. Their character and leadership shined through in that moment of adversity.”
“I tried to keep our energy up,” said Norton. “The energy in the first 10 minutes was unmatched, the best soccer we’ve played all year. Then we got stagnate in the final 20 minutes of the first half and the beginning 20 minutes of the second half until we got scored on. We finally decided we’ve got to play and get mentally checked in. Our motto is ‘family is everything,’ so we came together as a family and we went and got the win.”
The Sussex Academy victory sets a match up between Seahawks coach RJ Dina and his little brother Matt, who is the head coach for the Bucs.
“Wednesday will be fun,” said RJ. “There’s a lot at stake in the Dina household. It could be a tough Thanksgiving this year. My brother was an incredible player for Delaware [state Player of the Year in 2015]. He’s brought a ton of experience and knowledge to that Caravel side. They’re as good as they are in his first year because of him. We’re four years apart, so I never played with or against him. Wednesday will be the first time I get to see him in action doing what he loves. I can’t wait to be part of that.”
