Indians stunned by Seaford, push into state tourney
From the start of the year, both Indian River and Seaford high schools knew their late-season matchup on the soccer field was going to be a climactic one. The Indians had managed to clench the conference outright for the past four years, despite recent matchups against Seafrod drawing to close scores. Although the Blue Jays came out with the 1-0 win on Thursday behind junior Ethan Lee’s second-half goal, both teams took much from the game in preparation for the approaching state tournament.
Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
Indian River defender Mac Gray runs down a Seaford opponent in last Thursday's game. The Blue Jays knocked in the lone goal of the game for the 1-0 victory.
“At the start of the year,” said Seaford head soccer coach Tim Lee, “you look to when you play our Southern [Henlopen] opponents. We had that thought going into the schedule, ‘It would be nice to have that game against Indian River be the one for the conference title.’”
Last Thursday’s game indeed saw the two best teams of the Henlopen South Conference, both of which had recorded near-perfect seasons and given up no prior conference losses heading into the rivaling clash.
“The game itself was quite something to watch,” Lee added. “The quality of play and quality of sportsmanship was outstanding. Sometimes, you see games between great teams like that, and it can get nasty. Everyone played well and showed a lot of respect, on both sides.”
Seaford managed their ninth shutout of the season, their seventh in a row.
“We’ve got the best defensive unit I’ve ever had in my coaching career,” said Lee. “We play with three defenders to counter the two forwards that most teams play with, and we don’t need any more. Those three really come together well.”
The defense is anchored by two talented goalies who have complimented each other through the season to better their performances.
As much rivalry as there is between the two teams, the Indians and Blue Jays share a common respect for each other. Most of the Seaford and Indian River players have played together through the River Soccer program, and Lee’s coaching fame arrived in 1989, when he first began at Indian River. This year, players frequented the other teams’ games and sent text messages to each other, updating them on scores.
There was little left to discourage the Indians in their second loss all year, as they shut out Polytech last Saturday, 6-0. And with the Seaford game behind them, the team’s focus is centered on the close of the season and the playoffs.
“As a group,” said Indian River head coach Steve Kilby, “we’d love to see Seaford again – not that they weren’t deserving of a win and played hard, but it might be an opportunity for us to get a little pride back.”
This weekend, the Delaware State Soccer Tournament lineup will be announced, with the first rounds starting up next week.
“In playoffs,” Kilby added, “there are going to be teams good as and better than Seaford. There’s not going to be anything easy or given to us. It’s going to come down to good preparation to know the level of play and intensity we will face.”
This past Wednesday, Nov. 4, the Indians rounded out their regular season against Caravel, the only team to deliver a loss to the Blue Jays all year.
“I told our guys,” Kilby noted earlier this week, “this is just like a playoff game for us. Caravel is the type of team and type of intensity we need to expect in the state tournament. Here’s our first shot of playing at that level. We need to do the things we’re capable of doing.”
Indian River’s team still has youth, with only a handful of seniors leaving the team this year. Many of next year’s players have seen tough competition in the past, and seniors, such as co-captain Jake Buchler, helped anchor the Indians last year as they pushed into the state semifinals.
“I think, across the board, all of these guys have some good experience,” said Kilby. “A lot of them have seen tournament play, either on club teams or with the high-school team in state tournament. None of this should be eye-opening to them, and, hopefully, they can take past experiences and realize that opportunities that arise at this level of play are few and far between. Hopefully, they understand the importance of capitalizing on the chances we have in front of us.”
The Indians closed out an impressive 12-2 season (pending the result from Wednesday’s game at Caravel) and went 7-1 in the conference.
Read the Coastal Point for continuing coverage next week as the Indians’ climb towards the state title.
