VIDEO, PHOTOS: Crusaders sweep season-opening soccer DH over Wildwood

Posted: September 3rd 2025

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

WILDWOOD – There was no easing into the season for the soccer teams from Wildwood High School and Wildwood Catholic Academy.

The island rivals played their first games of the new campaign against one another as part of a girl-boy doubleheader in front of large crowds at Kaitlin M. Anzelone Memorial Field Tuesday.

Wildwood Catholic came out victorious in both games, the girls taking a 4-3 decision and the boys posting a 3-1 result.

LATE GOAL LIFTS CRUSADER GIRLS

The girls game featured some outstanding performances by young players.

Sophomore Dani Daley of Wildwood Catholic and freshman Aubrey Bradway of Wildwood each posted a hat trick to leave the teams level through 68 minutes.

Another freshman, Wildwood Catholic’s Madeline Burns, got the winner for the Crusaders with 11 minutes to play when her free kick from 23 yards out bounced through a maze of players around the six-yard line and settled inside the far post to give her team the 4-3 win.

“We made some adjustments at halftime,” Wildwood Catholic coach Bob Mannino said. “I saw some things I thought we needed to improve on and the girls did a great job with that.”

Wildwood opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game when Bradway scored on her very first high school shot attempt. Daley equalized for Wildwood Catholic before Bradway got another to put Wildwood back in front. Daley tied the game just before the stroke of halftime by scoring on a penalty kick after a hand-ball violation was committed by Wildwood in the penalty area.

Daley put the Crusaders ahead in the second half with her third before Bradway scored to again level the game at 3-3, until Burns settled the proceedings with her late goal.

“We’ve been waiting around to play, because we didn’t get any scrimmages,” Mannino said, “and I think that showed early. But we came around better as the game went on.”

Wildwood Catholic enjoyed much more of the possession and scoring chances throughout, although Wildwood was always a threat on the counterattack.

Wildwood goalkeeper Addison Troiano made several wonderful saves to keep her team in it, including a pair of diving stops in each half, one of which came on a Crusader breakaway.

Daley’s hat trick came as no surprise considering she scored 32 goals in her debut season last fall. But Wildwood’s Bradway announced her presence on the high school scene with authority. In addition to her three goals, she also hit the crossbar twice in addition to striking the post with another shot attempt.

“She’s a good player,” Mannino said of Bradway. “She’s quick and she’s skilled. She definitely has a very good future ahead of her.”

Bradway led a spirit effort by an extremely young Wildwood group, which featured no seniors and just one junior among its starting 11.

EARLY SECOND-HALF BURST CARRIES CRUSADER BOYS

A Wildwood Catholic team much more experienced than its opponent had trouble with a plucky Wildwood side through a scoreless first 40 minutes. But the Crusaders struck twice in the first five minutes of the second half to take control and eventually settled for a 3-1 victory.

“We had better spacing in the second half,” Wildwood Catholic coach Tommy Bolle said. “We were too bunched up in the first half, not knowing when to pressure when we should have been pressuring. The second half, as far as counters and our attack, was much better.”

Calvin Kiker got the opener for Wildwood Catholic off an assist from Evan Papageorgiou less than a minute into the second half before Charlie Flickinger tallied just a few minutes later for the Crusaders. Kiker later assisted on Nick Catanoso’s goal to seemingly put the game out of reach.

Wildwood didn’t go away, however, as Angel Rosario scored off a wonderful strike from the right flank with 22 minutes to play. The Warriors nearly pulled within a goal just a few minutes later but Alex Palomec’s excellent header off a set piece rattled the crossbar before being cleared off the line by the Crusader defense.

Wildwood Catholic settled the game from there and adeptly saw out its victory.

“We can always look back and dwell on those (missed chances),” Wildwood coach Sal Zampirri said. “Our boys are hungry to put balls in the net. It was just unfortunate for us.

“We expected Wildwood Catholic to come out a little more seasoned than us, obviously, considering how we’ve lost so many graduates from last year,” Zampirri added. “We’re smaller in size, too, but I really felt we matched their effort. We were very happy with the boys’ effort. We worked very hard and we were running through a lot of balls. Kudos to Wildwood Catholic because they did the same. This was a very physical, fun game.”

For Wildwood Catholic, the win was the program’s first over Wildwood since they began playing each other again annually two seasons ago. Wildwood won the 2023 game before the teams drew last season.

“We felt like we owed Wildwood a win and it’s good to get that revenge a little bit,” Bolle said.

Wildwood Catholic faces a difficult challenge this fall after being moved up to the more competitive Cape-Atlantic National Conference after winning the United Conference last fall.

“We have a tough season ahead now that we’re in this bigger division,” Bolle said. “We like the challenge, but we have a lot of work ahead of us.”