Stoppage-time goal lifts Delcastle past St. Elizabeth

Dialog reporter
 
BELVEDERE – St. Elizabeth’s soccer team leveled its Oct. 6 nonconference game at Delcastle at two goals apiece with a tally in the 78^th minute, but elation turned to heartbreak when the Cougars responded with the game-winner in stoppage time for the 3-2 triumph.

The Vikings opened the scoring in a free-wheeling first half. Off a corner kick in the fifth minute, Chase Dunlap tapped the ball to James Smith, whose centering kick was knocked to the top of the 18-yard box by Delcastle. Reiley Bond closed in and chipped the ball just out of the reach of the goalkeeper and under the crossbar for a 1-0 advantage.
The momentum shifted after that, and the Cougars piled up the chances. Vikings goalkeeper Daniel Moffett-Conaway picked up a pair of saves in the eighth minute, and a Delcastle shot went off the side of the net a minute later. Moffett-Conaway made two diving stops later in the half, including one at point-blank range and one on a free kick by Rodrigo Gonzalez.
St. Elizabeth was not as fortunate on Delcastle’s next shot, however, as Michael Delgado split two defenders and sent a left-footed shot low and to the left of the keeper in the 32 minute.

There were plenty of offensive opportunities for the Vikings as well. They had two more corner kicks before halftime, with one resulting in a shot wide of the net. Cougars keeper Gerson Bravo stoned Jack Cottrell late in the first, and Bravo had to dive to stop a St. E’s chance as time ran low.
Delcastle untied the game in the 55^th minute on a goal off the foot of Saul Robles, and as the afternoon wore on, it appeared that might be enough. But St. Elizabeth forward Vincent Fahey gave his team a temporary reprieve with that goal in the 78^th, which would have sent the match to overtime had Juan Lemos not netted the winner after the 80-minute mark had passed.
The Vikings (3-4), who were outshot, 25-12, will try to snap a two-game losing streak on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at William Penn. Delcastle improved to 4-5 with its fourth win in the last five. The Cougars travel to Middletown on Tuesday at 3:30.