There were some misty eyes in Dover on Tuesday, May 22, as seven local seniors played the final soccer game of their high school career. The ninth-seeded Indian River girls were stopped early, shut out by eighth seed Alexis I. duPont in the 2007 DIAA state tournament. Three goals in the first half were more than enough to give the Tigers of A.I. the advancement.
Alex Roenke, above, drives the ball upfield.
“It’s emotional,” said head coach Steve Kilby. “You really feel for them, because you spend four months with them for each of the last four years.”
The Indians were unable to get much started — until the second half, just a little too late. “The goals we gave up were not strong goals,” said Kilby. “[A.I. duPont] just possessed the ball and came at us all night. It’s a shame we didn’t figure that out.”
Tightening defensive marks helped shut out the Tigers in the second half, but Indian River was unable to answer back to the damage A.I. caused earlier. Though, playing on Dover’s turf field sped up the ball’s pace, it wasn’t an contributing factor in the loss. “We’ve played here before, and played on Caravel’s [turf field] and won 5-0,” Kilby said. “The turf’s not to blame today.”
A.I. duPont has made it to the state championship match seven times in the last 11 years, five of which they came out victorious. With the win earlier this week, A.I. will face first-ranked Padua, who won against Sanford at Caravel on Saturday, May 26.
For Kilby’s team, Tuesday’s game was almost a mirror image of last year, when, again ranked ninth, they were eliminated by eighth-seeded St. Thomas More in the first round. In 2005, the Indians advanced to the second round, but fell to A.I., 4-0.
“Although this is no way to end a season, there’s only one team that will be happy at the end, and that’s whoever wins the final,” Kilby said. “We’re a small Division II school, and we get the best out of what we’ve got, and they should never hang their heads.”
Also in the first round of the state tournament, Caesar Rodney (3) defeated Sussex Tech (14), and St. Thomas More (4) triumphed over Brandywine (13). St. Thomas More will face the winner of Wednesday’s match-up between Wilmington Friends and 12th seed Cape Henlopen, which ended after Coastal Point press time.
Kilby helped his girls finish 12-4 this season, stating that he was pleased with the results this spring. “I’m not disappointed at all about the season,” he said. “We won all the games we were supposed to win.”
He stressed the importance of exposure and experience even after the season’s end.
“The biggest thing for our girls is they have to do this year-round,” he said. “We’ve got four or five who will play through the fall and the summer. That’s truly what it takes to go to the next level.
“If you look at the top five or six teams in the state, not only are they club players, but they’re also regional players. That’s just the reality of it. Hopefully, we can continue to grow our program outside of the season,” he said.
Coastal Point • RYAN SAXTON
Kelly Jurusik, below, clears the flank in a 3-0 opening-round loss against A.I. Dupont on Tuesday, May 22.
Working with the Delaware Olympic Developmental Team for 10 years and coaching throughout the state for high schools and clubs, including Indian River’s boy’s team, Kilby understands the urgency of the players extending their skills.
“We are what we are — a bunch of great girls, hard-working, fun-loving kids. We want to win every game we’re in, but we’re not at the level of some of these teams who have players developed outside their high school program.”