A tradition since 2009 continued Thursday night as the Sturgeon Bay Clippers soccer team closed out another regional title with a 3-0 victory over Gibraltar/Sevastopol.
Both teams had not played since they battled each other on April 26th, so the two sides took the first 10 minutes to shake off the rust. The Clippers would strike first as Robert Alas chipped the ball over the Vikineers keeper to make it 1-0 in the 17th minute. Alas would strike again when he took a cross through the box and tapped in the one-timer in the 31st minute.
It would remain that way until the 74th minute. The Vikineers made a few nice surges in the second half, pressuring goalkeeper Jonathan Wind to make a few acrobatic saves. A handball by Trey Maas set up a penalty kick for the Vikineers, only to have Connor Thompson strike it just wide to keep the score at 2-0. The Vikineers would return the favor with a handball in the box, but Benjamin Luders would drive it home for the final tally of the game.
The game had its fair share of yellow cards with two going against Gibraltar/Sevastopol and one against a coach for Sturgeon Bay. Alas drew a red card in the final seconds of the match for a hard play against the Vikineers' Antonio Curiel. He will not be allowed to play in Saturday's match against Notre Dame, which beat Ashwaubenon 5-0 in their regional final matchup in Green Bay.
In other soccer action, the Kewaunee girls lost 10-0 to NEW Lutheran. Sturgeon Bay was scheduled to play New Holstein. Sturgeon Bay and Luxemburg-Casco are scheduled to play in a quad tournament this weekend. The Spartans will play 5 p.m Friday at Notre Dame and 9 a.m. Saturday against Green Bay Southwest. The Clippers will play Southwest at 7 p.m. on Friday and 11.am. Saturday against Notre Dame. The Spartans had their Thursday game postponed.
NEW Radio Sports Network will cover Saturday's sectional semifinal matchup between Sturgeon Bay and Notre Dame at 2 p.m. If the Clippers win, the sectional final against Winnebago Lutheran and North Fond du Lac Co-op will also be broadcast. Bryan Mazur and Peter Kerwin will have the call on 96.7 WBDK and NEWRadioSportsNetwork.com.
