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Sports

Gaither High Cowboys Get Back on Track, Finish 2-1 in Wharton Invitational

The boys soccer team thumps Strawberry Crest and defeats Hillsborough later in the day.

When asked what these last two games of the Wharton Invitational meant for his team, Coach Eric Sims replied, “It’s a good preparation for districts. No practice compares to actually playing a game."

Strawberry Crest could only field 12 players for Tuesday morning’s contest. The outcome was never in doubt.

The Gaither Cowboys dominated from the start, eventually forcing a 9-0 forfeit just after halftime. It was a shooting gallery. The starters for Gaither crowded Strawberry Crest in the early going and never let up, even when the reserves came in.

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Jordan See and Ricardo Rivera took the first possession right up the middle of the Strawberry Crest defense and scored. Paul Hinebaugh controlled the ball on the left side and played a few nice crosses into See. Finally, Cesar Ticora finished off a Gaither corner kick to notch the game at 2-0.

Gaither star forward Zach Wheeler ran wild and knocked in his first goal of the game in the first 10 minutes. It was 3-0 Gaither and they did not take their foot of the gas.

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Minutes later, Zach Wheeler played a corner kick that Jordan See headed right into the goal.

Lockdown keeper John Nardozzi only touched the ball a couple of times, once on a pass from his own teammate. Coach Sims would sub Kyle Smith in shortly after and eventually Nicholas Dolan at keeper in the second half. Neither of them would touch the ball, aside from a couple goal kicks.

The Cowboys began making wholesale substitutions. Wheeler and See took seats and this opened the door for Alex Giraldo to shine. No one told Giraldo that the game was in hand. He played all out, assisted and took several good shots on goal.

The Strawberry Crest back line played well. Eric Hernandez and Ubaldo Hernandez did well to shut down several deep drives by Gaither. Strawberry Crest keeper Nicholas Kubecka made a few nice-looking saves, but was under siege the whole match.

Paul Hindebaugh had a good game, breaking away, midway through the first period and finishing off his own drive with a goal, extending the lead to 5-0.

Tyler Helm got some action as well. He was able to smash in a goal from the corner of the box, making it 6-0.

Alex Giraldo, who has hustled all game long finally hit pay dirt, just before halftime, piling on the goal count. 7-0. Alex Giraldo, easily player of the game for Gaither, was not finished. He made a great steal and jammed Strawberry Crest in their own end. He displayed some great ball control and eventually got his shot. It played off the keeper’s hands but went in, stretching the lead to 8-0 as halftime mercifully arrived.

The second period began with a backup Gaither squad. They wasted no time pushing up to Strawberry Crest’s goal. A dribbling shot careened of keeper Nicholas Kubecka’s hands and rolled in the net.

This spelled the end for Strawberry Crest as the nine-goal mercy rule went into effect.

The Cowboys would take on Hillsborough in their afternoon bout. Coach Sims was excited to play Hillsborough, saying “We might see them again at districts."

Gaither was exposed by Durant’s giant, Connor Bass, in their first game.

When asked if there were going to be any changes on defense, Sims replied, “He was definitely a problem for us. Good thing most teams don’t have a guy that big."

The Bulldogs are a much more legitimate opponent, but they don’t have a guy that big.

However, Hillsborough team captain Daniel Barboto gave Gaither problems all game long. His ball handling and passing skills are superb, and he took many drives deep into Cowboy territory.

The two sides sparred for much of the opening period, neither seemed at an advantage.

As the first period began to wind down, Gaither snuck their back line up and pinned Hillsborough down in their own end. The Bulldogs fouled Zach Wheeler on a run and the ensuing free kick was absolutely crushed by Jacob Snidle. Only a fantastic save by Bulldog keeper, Christopher Sato kept the game scoreless.

Another Cowboy rally on goal freed up Charles Delmar for a shot, which careened off the crossbar. Gaither could smell blood in the water. A second time, the defensive line came up in support and Zach Wheeler took another shot on goal that bounced off keeper, Christopher Sato but Alex Giraldo was able to finish it off for the game’s only score.

It was nearly tied up, seconds later, as Cowboy keeper John Nardozzi played a goal kick right to Matthew Szabo of Hillsborough. Only an errant shot by Szabo saved the tenuous Gaither lead.

A minute later it looked like Gaither would go up by two.

Charles Delmar and Ricardo Rivera moved the ball with graceful precision downfield and laid it up for Cesar Ticora, whose rocket shot was tipped by the keeper and slammed off the crossbar, back into play. The ball was played out and the first period expired.

Backup keeper Nicholas Dolan got in some good minutes and had a couple saves. Eric Costello got some good minutes as well as Carlos DeOliveira and the Cowboys blunted every effort the Bulldogs made.

 Later, Daniel Barboto dribbled through a double-team and took a decent shot on goal but Nick Dolan came up with the save. Even as the seconds wound down, Barboto got free on the right side and laid a beautiful pass into the box but time was up and the Cowboys would finish 2-1 in the tournament.

None of the favorites in the tournament will be in the semifinals tomorrow night. Gaither comes in behind Durant, Jesuit dropped a hard-fought match to Plant that helped Newsome advance from Group B. Steinbrenner swept their group matches to advance from Group C and Sickles lost all three of their decisions yielding to red-hot Bloomingdale.

 

 

 

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