HOCKESSIN — It took a few minutes, but once the Archmere soccer team found the net, it was well on its way to a 4-0 victory at Sanford on Sept. 16.
The Auks came out looking for the early knockout, but the Warriors kept them off the scoreboard for the opening quarter of the match. The Auks kept at it, and finally the pressure paid off.
Archmere had several corner kicks in the first half, and in the 23rd minute, they connected. The inbounds pass went to Alex MacWilliams, who fed Alex Passehl. His shot ticked off the underside of the crossbar above Warriors goalkeeper Marco Giancroce and sailed into the far top corner to make it 1-0.
Giancroce, a freshman, kept it a one-goal deficit five minutes later when he came up with a huge save following another Auks corner kick. As the first half drew near its conclusion, Archmere finally broke through again. This time, Giancroce and Jason Lotkowski raced for the ball as it neared the end line. Lotkowski jumped and headed the ball over the keeper and sent it into the net at a sharp angle.
The Warriors nearly got one back before the half, but Auks goalkeeper Kyle Zahnow stopped a shot from about 10 yards out.
Zahnow added a few more saves as Sanford came out with momentum in the second half, but the Auks turned that around quickly. Karol Diaz made it 3-0 in the 54th minute, converting a feed from Mason Nowaczyk by going shoulder high to the keeper’s left. Lotkowski added his second in the 68th on a penalty kick.
The Auks had a 12-6 shot advantage, and they had nine corner kicks to the Warriors’ one. Zahnow made five saves. Archmere (3-0) plays the third of five straight on the road on Wednesday afternoon at Wilmington Charter at 3:45 p.m.
Giancroce had seven saves for Sanford, which fell to 0-3. The Warriors host Wilmington Charter on Monday at 4 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
