Wilmington, NC - Cape Fear women's soccer capped off an impressive regular season, defeating USC Lancaster 5-0 in their final regular season game.
The girls came out aggressively, pushing their lines forward, and earning their first corner of the game in the 2nd minute. Lancaster would gain a bit of possession afterwards, but do nothing with it.
Cape Fear would counter in the 7th minute, and a well-timed through ball by Gabby Serpa would set up Alyssa Coustenis free on the right wing. She would dribble towards goal, and put a shot past the goalkeeper to give the Sea Devils a 1-0 lead.
After a bit of Lancaster possession, Cape Fear would get their second goal in the 13th minute thanks to Alaina Capps. She would find herself open on the right side of the box, thanks to an assist from Briley Eason, and she would slot the ball in the right hand corner of the net.
The early two goal lead was all Cape Fear needed to take control of the match. Lancaster would occasionally get bits of possession, but Cape Fear did a good job of defending the few set pieces the Lancers would earn.
The Sea Devils would create multiple scoring opportunities, but would be unable to add to their lead until the 34th minute, as Sierra Raynor, returning to the field after missing two games, would have her shot deflected and sent over the goalkeeper's head to give her team a 3-0 lead. Emily Valenti set up Raynor for the assist.
Cape Fear had five shots on goal in the first half. They would enter the half with a three goal lead.
Coustenis nearly made it 4-0 in the 49th minute, but her shot would ricochet off the right post.
The Sea Devils final two goals would come in quick secession. Raynor would catch the goalkeeper out of the box in the 56th minute, sending a shot from more than 30 yards to score a stunner of a goal for her 14th of the season. Coustenis would score a minute later, dribbling past two defenders to score easily in front of goal for her 15th. Raime Cooper provided the assist for Raynor, and Eason assisted for Coustenis.
Head Coach Ryan Deppa would rotate his side the rest of the half, subbing on back-up goalkeeper Kenedy Green and a handful of other players from the bench unit. They would continue applying pressure, but the score would remain 5-0 for the rest of the game.
The last chance for either team came for Lancaster in the 87th minute off a corner kick, but Green would make a great save. It was Lancaster's best chance at goal, and Green would position herself well to make the save.
The game would wrap up from there. The Sea Devils totaled 25 shots, and 17 on goal.
Deppa congratulated his team afterwards. "[I'm] happy for our team to get another shutout, and I'm happy for them to finish the home season undefeated. That's not an easy thing to do, and it's just another special thing they've put together this season."
The Sea Devils improved to 14-1 and 11-1 in conference play. They will now travel to Raleigh, North Carolina to play in Region 10 tournament, which will take place October 29th-30th.
Courtesy of Nick Denning
