The Lady Conchs made the trip to Delray Beach to challenge the top-ranked Stallions of American Heritage Dec. 3 in a soccer match that proved Key West is as good as anyone. Despite the outcome, head coach Scott Paul was pleased with his team’s play. “We did end up losing the game 2-0, although it was a much closer battle than that,” he said.
The Conchs were without starting goalkeeper Mary Searcy, who was out with a shoulder injury, and freshman Izzie Magrath stepped up with a solid performance against one of the best teams in 4A. While Magrath kept things tight, Key West had some opportunities to pull off the upset.
“Suena Marcily fired a perfect shot to their far post that would have grazed the goal and gone in had their keeper not made a beautiful save. Madison Kilduff also had a one-on-one with the keeper and ripped a strong shot, but it was straight at the keeper. Two other opportunities came and went as we had the ball popping around loose in a scrum in front of goal that we were unable to put in,” said Paul. “All in all, we are happy with our performance, as we feel that we picked up where we left off play before the break. Our goal-scoring was the one area that we were not on our best game.”
After losing to Westwood 6-0 early in the season, the Marathon Lady Fins shored up their defense and finished their second match against the Warriors with a far closer outcome. The 1-0 loss gave the team hope as they rolled into game number two for the week, a Dec. 3 home contest against Somerset Silver Palms. Maeve Merryman started the scoring with an unassisted goal, followed by one from Fantine Mendez. Addison Collins was credited with the assist. Allison Helms scored one, assisted by Sara Picariello, then Kayla Skaarup scored an unassisted goal and went on to assist Ashley Strama on the final goal of the match. The 5-1 victory gave Marathon its first win of the season.
Coral Shores’ girls also picked up win number one of the season last week. After a 3-0 loss at Miami Country Day on Dec. 3, the Hurricanes made quick work of a visiting Keys Gate two days later. Kimmie Dubon had a hat trick for the ’Canes. Bailey Catarineau, Avea Jackson, Jenna Mandozzi, Lela Goodrich and Sammy Bates added one goal each in the team’s win.
Boys
In boys soccer action, Key West played one match last week, traveling to North Miami Beach to take on the unbeaten and highly-ranked Lions of Scheck Hillel Community School. The Conchs made the Lions work to remain undefeated, losing 2-1. Evens Louis assisted Nico Sulak on Key West’s goal.
Fifty miles to the north, Marathon had mixed results with one win and one loss last week. The Fins seized a rare opportunity to play their younger athletes and allow a few of their seasoned players to try out new roles in their match against Westwood Christian on Dec. 2. After an early-season rout over the Warriors, Marathon coach Christian Saltarin played his bench for the first hour of competition. The youngsters were ahead 3-1 when the starters took the field and finished the match by adding another four goals in the final 20 minutes of play. Adiel Nunez netted a pair of goals with Alnier Nunez, Aiden McIntyre, Tariq Simpson and Jossua Gomez adding one apiece. A Westwood own-goal accounted for the final score of the game. Two games later, a visiting Palmer Trinity crew bested the Fins 4-0.
Coral Shores’ boys started the week off with their first win of the season in a resounding victory over Monsignor Pace on Dec. 1. Freshman Jackson Keller accounted for four of the goals in the win and Colton Connolly scored two to add to a total that would reach nine by the final whistle. Two days later, the Hurricanes lost a close one to Riviera Prep. Keller and Armando Picado each netted one in the 3-2 loss. On Dec. 5, the ’Canes lost to Miami Country Day 8-0 in their final match of the week.
