NEWARK — Salesianum jumped out to an early lead, then controlled the action throughout the game in a 4-1 win over St. Georges on Nov. 13 at Newark Charter. The win propels the Sals into the DIAA Division I state championship game for the xxth consecutive season; they will take on Caesar Rodney on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Dover High School.
Salesianum, seeded second, did not score in the first half of their 4-1 quarterfinal win over Sussex Central last week, and had to play from behind after Central struck early in the second half. They did not find themselves in that situation Wednesday night. They took the play to the No. 6 Hawks from the jump, and it paid off quickly. In the second minute, Diego Castillo-Hernandez sent a shot along the ground to the right of St. Georges keeper Holten Bosco for the 1-0 lead.
A Salesianum corner kick in the 18th glanced off the shoulder of a Sals player and was stopped by Bosco, who made a few other impressive saves to keep the margin at one goal. However, in the 24th, another corner resulted in a Salesianum goal, with Chase Esser knocking the inbounds pass into the net.
St. Georges settled down and took advantage of one of its chances nine minutes later. Grayson Warner found himself with the ball and some space about 30 yards out and blasted a shot into the upper right corner to cut the Sals’ lead in half.
The Hawks were unable to replicate that again, and the second half was played mostly in the Sals’ offensive end. Bosco kept the game close with more big saves, but Esser turned a steal into his second goal in the 51st, and Tyler Cifa closed out the scoring in the 64th minute.
Final statistics were not available Thursday afternoon. The Sals improved to 12-4-1. One of those wins came against Caesar Rodney, a 3-1 decision at Abessinio Stadium on Oct. 15. The Sals and Riders have met three times before in the state championship game, the last time in 2019.
Tickets for the final are available at www.gofan.co/app/school/DIAA.
St. Georges finished the season with a record of 13-3-1.
