Men's Soccer Rebounds With 2-1 Win Over USC Salkehatchie

Wilmington, NC - Cape Fear men's soccer (6-3, 5-3) rebounded from a tough loss over the weekend to defeat USC Salkehatchie (3-6), 2-1.

The game remained scoreless until the second half, when Cape Fear's Logan Edwards put his team up 1-0 off an assist from DeShaun Brown in the 53rd minute. Franco Fernandez doubled the Sea Devils' lead in the 62nd minute off a great team goal.

The Indians pulled one back in the 66th minute, but a red card issued to Salkehatchie's Okean Johnson in the 82nd minute gave the Sea Devils a man advantage the rest of the way. The advantage helped, and they were able to hang on for the win.

While both goals were needed today, the coaching staff pointed out two players--midfielder Christian Vega and goalkeeper Lucas Gusmao--for playing key roles. Vega played physical, and had a high work rate and good positioning throughout the game. Gusmao made a number of key saves--eight in total for the game. His leadership made a difference as well.

Overall, the coaching staff was pleased with the performance, even if it took time for the team to settle.

Assistant coach Richard Yakubu said that once the team did calm down, they were able to do what was needed on both ends.

"We had chances early on and had to remind ourselves to relax that the goals would come. USC Salkehatchie had pace and tried to catch us on counter attacks. Overall, [a] good win and we have small details to fix and we look forward to playing them again Friday."

Assistant coach Chris Harper felt the game was very physical and played with high intensity. Things changed once the Sea Devils took a 2-0 lead, which he believes led the conceded goal.

"We got a little too comfortable with a 2-0 lead, which is often the case when a team has a two goal advantage."

Finally, head coach C.W. Ponton was happy to see his squad calm down and get the win.

"It wasn't a best performance, but we pulled it off. It took us a while to relax, but we calmed down to play our game and get the lead. I definitely expect us to play better and was pleased everyone got on the field to some degree."

For the game, Cape Fear outshot Salkehatchie 13-12, and had 10 shots on target to the Indians seven.

Cape Fear will face Salkehatchie again this Friday, October 6th, on the road. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.