Evans captures title; Bishop Moore third
Roldy Geneus found the net early and the Evans Trojans withstood a constant Cape Coral Mariner crush to defeat the Tritons 1-0 Saturday in the championship match of the Mike Stone Invitational boys soccer tournament at Hickory Point Park in Tavares.
Geneus earned tournament Most Valuable Player status for the Trojans (8-5-1), who have won the tournament three times. Evans, which also won in 2014 and 2015, has now won six consecutive games.
“There's confidence in each other,” Geneus said. “Believe and trust in each other, and we all do our part.”
Geneus scored in the 17th minute by heading a Roland Dimson free kick into the left side of the net.
“It was a nice pass,” Geneus said. “I had to be ready as always.”
Evans coach Rey Bornacelli said that the tournament, which benefits For Kids' Sake Foundation, is a great one for his team. In the years since Stone passed in 2016, the tournament has raised more than $50,000, according to tournament co-host Glen Jusczyk, who is with the For Kids' Sake Foundation.
“Thank you to Jason [Gray] for coordinating this and keeping the memory alive for Mike Stone, who was a great guy,” Bornacelli said. “The Stone family, they're awesome. I have seniors who've been here four years. This is like home for us. They're like family.”
The Trojans earned back-to-back victories against teams that were undefeated. After beating Bishop Moore 2-1 on Friday, the Trojans dealt Mariner (14-1-3) its first loss.
Bishop Moore (15-1) bounced back to win Saturday's third-place game 5-2 against Dr. Phillips.
Geneus said the win over Bishop Moore gave the Trojans confidence. The Hornets had beaten Evans in their past two matchups.
“We have a pretty good team, in particular tenacious,” he said.
Mariner maintained a slight edge in the midfield, keeping most of the match on the Evans half of the field. That left all-tournament goalkeeper Diego Martinez to make seven saves.
The Tritons had several other chances. Esteban Orjuela headed one off the post in the second half, and Martinez nearly lost a ball just off his goal line with a Triton nearby. Evans either pressured Mariner into bad shots or made clearances at key times.
“We tried to stay composed and tried to work the ball out to the wing,” said Evans senior defender Johnny Acquah-Sampson.Bornacelli, crediting the Trojans' defense with the victory. He said the victory should help them prepare for the district tournament.
“I always felt we were a good team. Of course, this will bring a lot of pride to our school and community,” Bornacelli said. “It brings the community together and gives the school something to rally around.
“To think we were 4-5-1. We knew if we played a certain way and played with our teammates, we could be a good team.”
Bishop Moore 5, Dr. Phillips 2: All-tournament defender Collin O'Malley scored two goals in 3 minutes to lead Bishop Moore to victory in the third-place match.
O'Malley, who scored five goals in the tournament, headed in a bounce off a corner kick to tie the score 2-2 in the 64th minute. Three minutes later, O'Malley headed in another corner kick to put the Hornets (15-1) ahead 3-2.
“He got hot, and found the ball, Bishop Moore coach Tom Hage said. “We welcomed his five goals in the tournament.”
Pete Gonzalez also scored two goals, adding a penalty kick to end a fiveminute span that helped Bishop Moore turn a 2-1 deficit into a 4-1 lead. Marum Nain added another penalty kick for the Hornets.
“We love coming here," Hage said. “Jason does a great job of continuing the tradition. We enjoy coming here. They host a really good tournament with teams we don't get to play all the time. It was a good tournament. Congrats to Evans. We faced them earlier in the season, and we faced them last night. If we weren't going to win, we're proud that we lost to the eventual champions. Congrats to Evans."
Nicolas Calvo and Pierre Abon each scored goals for Dr. Phillips.
Bishop Kenny 1, Spruce Creek 0: All-Tournament defender Sean Meisler scored in the 39th minute to help Jacksonville Bishop Kenny beat 2017 champ Port Orange Spruce Creek (10-5-1) in the fifth-place match.
Meisler beat the Spruce Creek keeper low left to give the Crusaders (6-6) their only goal.
Stanton Prep 2, Satellite 1: Greg Jones scored in the fourth minute with a shot to the lower left, and Stanton College Prep of Jacksonville downed Satellite.
Zack O'Brien scored on a free kick from 20 yards out just before halftime to give the Blue Devils (7-4-4) a 2-0 lead. They kept the pressure on the Scorpions in the second half.
Zane Webb buried a deflection into the bottom left corner in the second half for Satellite's goal.
Koa Webb had four saves for Satellite (6-7-3). Andrew Zalewa had two saves for the Blue Devils.