Wilmington, NC - Cape Fear men's soccer rebounded from a tough loss over the weekend to defeat Patrick Henry Community College 4-1. Franco Fernandez scored a hat trick.
The Sea Devils entered Monday's game following a 4-2 loss to USC Lancaster over the weekend. After giving up a lead in that game, the Sea Devils looked to play a complete game today.
That proved true, as Cape Fear rallied off three goals right before halftime to take a commanding lead. The first came in the 39th minute, as Fernandez scored off an assist from Renzo Tenorio. Three minutes later, Josh Barnello scored unassisted to double his team's lead. Then, Fernandez scored his second goal right at the 45 minute mark to put the Sea Devils up 3-0.
Assistant coach Richard Yakubu loved the way his team played in the first half.
"Our guys went into the game ready," said Yakubu. "The difference today was we put Patrick Henry away early."
Cape Fear continued to dominate in the second half, and made it 4-0 in the 56th minute Fernandez completed his hat trick thanks to a great pass from Anthoney Garcia-Aguirre.
The Patriots of Patrick Henry managed to get a goal back in the 66th minute thanks to John Yawson, but it didn't start a comeback and the Sea Devils came away the winner.
The Sea Devils outshot the Patriots 14-7. Each team made three saves.
"This was a good win after our loss to Lancaster," said assistant coach Yakubu. "I always say that a good team is always determined after a loss."
It was another stellar performance for Fernandez, who scored his hat trick on just four shot attempts. Nathaniel Lorenz also put in a great shift by controlling the midfield.
While those two were stand out performers, coach Yakubu felt the entire team came ready to play.
"With a game like this one it comes down to who really wants to win, and our guys were focused and ready to go."
Head coach C.W. Ponton also praised his players, stating: "We came ready and we executed. I'm very pleased with our performance. Every player got plenty of minutes and they all did their job in controlling the ball and executing the game plan."
The win improves Cape Fear to 8-5 overall, and 7-5 in conference play. Currently, they sit in 3rd place in NJCAA Region 10 with two conference games remaining.
Their next game is scheduled for Wednesday, October 18th, where they will take on first place Richard Bland College on the road at 4:00 p.m.
Courtesy of Nick Denning
