VIDEO, PHOTOS: Mother Ocean calls after Crusaders secure playoff victory

Posted: October 28th 2023

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

STONE HARBOR – Most of the members of the Wildwood Catholic High School girls soccer team took advantage of an Indian Summer day and their close proximity to the beach to celebrate a state playoff victory in rather unique fashion.

Many of the Crusader players, following a 3-1 win over Doane Academy in the first round of the South Jersey Non-Public B Tournament Friday, raced across the street to take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

Ah, the perks of living at the Jersey Shore.

“Look at this mess,” Wildwood Catholic coach Kara Saunders said with a laugh as she surveyed her bench area strewn with sweaty cleats, socks and shin pads.

The Crusaders dominated the first half, only to reach the interval locked in a 1-1 draw due to a failure to convert quite a few chances.

The second half began in much the same fashion, with Wildwood Catholic all of the chances without anything to show for them. But finally, Grace Deegler slid a shot from close range inside the left post midway through the half following a corner kick to give the Crusaders the lead for good. Lily King finished the task for Wildwood Catholic with another goal with about 12 minutes remaining.

The victory came in what was most likely the team’s final home game of the season.

“That’s the biggest thing, because we have a pretty large senior group and we knew this was it, this was the last home game,” Saunder said. “I really wanted it for them, especially for the three who’ve been with me since their freshmen year (Deegler, Nola Quinn and Ava Vogdes). I wanted it for them, but also for everybody. For the younger girls, this is a great experience having a home playoff game in front of the biggest crowd we’re going to see all year.”

Wildwood Catholic (10-7), the eighth seed in the bracket, will face top-seeded Bishop Eustace in the second round next week.

Wildwood Catholic’s Megan Feketics opened the scoring in Friday’s game, only to see Doane’s Ceren Firat equalize. The Crusaders, however, didn’t deviate and continued to control the flow of the play before pulling away in the second half.

“This was a little tough because we didn’t know a whole lot about Doane,” Saunders said. “We just had to go play and figure it out. I’m super proud of them., especially not really knowing what we were facing.”

Quinn and Destiny Wallace were credited with assists in the victory.