Cape field hockey and soccer ready for Championship Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday - Cape Henlopen field hockey and soccer will play for Henlopen Conference Championships Tuesday, Nov. 3. The hockey team goes sticks down at Delmar, game time is 3 p.m. Cape is 14-0 while the host Wildcats are 13-0-1, having tied Lake 2-2, a team the Vikings beat 2-1. The last six state champions have come from the Henlopen Conference and the last four finals have been between Henlopen teams. Delmar has a slogan on the back of their T-shirts, “No turf, just tradition,” and they have a ton of it but have never won a state championship in a girls' sport. Tuesday’s showdown is not as important as the single-elimination tournament games that begin Nov. 10, but it may impact the seeding of the top four teams. The 14-1 Cape soccer team plays Indian River at Milford at 7 p.m. IR is coached by Steve Kilby while Cape is coached by his son Patrick. On Sept. 29, Cape beat IR, with all goals coming in the first half. Cape had a 19-14 advantage in shots. Indian River was 10-5 during the regular season. The state tournament for soccer is divided into Divisions I and II. Cape is on the D1 side and begins play in the quarterfinal round Saturday, Nov. 14.
Getting home - An experienced coach in any sport knows how hard it is to close out an upset victory. The momentum of the favorite team just keeps rolling until the final play. Notre Dame was on the edge of the abyss against Temple Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field after the Owls scored a field goal with 4:45 left to go, up 23-20. Rocky versus Rudy before 69,280 fans of college football. But 4:45 is a ton of time that enabled Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer, 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, to complete a pass to Will Fuller in the back of the end zone for a 17-yard game-winning touchdown. Fuller went to high school at Roman Catholic on North Broad Street where he wore a tie every day to high school. And of all the signs for the three hours of College Gameday at Independence Mall, the one that made me laugh read: “It must be Halloween. Everyone’s dressed as a Temple fan." Back in fall 1965, a group of dorm students asked me, “Hey, we’re all going to the game on Saturday, do you want to go with us?” “I can’t. I’m on the team,” I said. “Cool. When we’re not drinking from our flasks we'll look for you. What’s your number?”
Spike in attendance - Cape’s volleyball team is 13-2 under first-year coach Tyler Coupe. The Vikings are the ninth seed in the upcoming DIAA tournament and will open play at home Thursday, Nov. 5, versus Conrad. A rocking and rollicking not to mention exuberantly vociferous crowd is expected. Not only that, but Cape fans will make a lot of noise. A Cape win will send the Vikings to round 2 to face the winner of Polytech at McKean (even Garmin doesn’t know where that is) at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7. Top-seeded Delaware Military Academy will play the winner of Delmar and Appo in the 6 p.m. game. If you haven’t changed your car clock, you’re going to be early.
Hold the water tower jokes - “Hey, Smyrna, what time does the prison break out?” Speaking of jailbreaks, the Eagles run the spread offense and you can’t stop them, and most likely can’t slow them down. Most of your strategies "ain’t gonna work,” but Salesianum found the formula for beating them, as they scored 76 and even though they gave up 56, they still won by 20. Smyrna led Caesar Rodney 52-0 at halftime Oct. 30, all you have to do is shut down the seven different guys involved in scoring plays, plus junior quarterback Nolan Henderson who lights it up like Christmas decor. The Eagles go for two after every touchdown but they do kick off a lot. Obviously, the strategy has to be for Cape to run the football and run the clock because when Smyrna has the ball they are taking no prisoners. And the water tower is red and white with a Flying Eagle and can be seen all over town in case anyone wants to get a drink after the game.
Snippets - Delaware field hockey (Jacki Coveleski, Maggie Delp) will play Hofstra Friday, Nov. 6, at 5:30 at JMU in the semifinals of the CAA tournament. Drexel will play JMU in the other semifinal. The finals are Sunday, Nov. 8, when the NCAA tournament field will be announced. UMass field hockey, with Cape’s Izzy Delario the leading points producer with 19, will play St. Joe’s Friday, Nov. 6, at 11 a.m in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament. Richmond will face Davidson in the other semifinal game. Tommy Ott won his wrestle-off and the freshman plebe is for now the starting heavyweight wrestler for the Naval Academy.
Go on now, git!
