VIDEO, PHOTOS: Thorough victory for Wildwood as island rivalry renews

Posted: September 10th 2023

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

The last time Wildwood High School and Wildwood Catholic Academy faced one another in boys soccer, the current freshmen on both teams would have been in kindergarten.

So it was certainly a special moment when the teams got together to play one another for the first time since 2014 late Saturday morning in front of a large crowd at Kaitlin M. Anzelone Memorial Field.

Wildwood got off to a flying start, taking a 2-0 lead on goals by Tyler Brown and Gavin Burns less than 10 minutes into the game. Wildwood Catholic stabilized the game when Teddy Woolery fired into goal.

But Wildwood seized control for good when Alexander Osario easily nodded the ball into goal off a precise cross from Daniele Sanzone with only 18 seconds remaining in the half to restore a two-goal advantage and the Warriors went on to post a 7-2 victory.

“We were very happy with how the boys responded there,” said Wildwood coach Sal Zampirri, who was a senior at Wildwood Catholic the last time the teams had met before Saturday. (He scored a goal in a 6-0 Crusader victory). “We knew Wildwood Catholic was going to bring the effort. Their kids were working their tails off. But our boys worked hard in the offseason and they came into the season very fit. We kept battling and we responded well when Wildwood Catholic got that goal on us.”

Wildwood (2-0) never allowed Wildwood Catholic back in it. Brown scored four minutes into the second half to make it 4-1, before Alex Palomec Vasquez and Burns made the job complete for the Warriors by adding goals 20 seconds apart 12 minutes later.

Charlie Dunner got one back for Wildwood Catholic with five minutes to go before Wildwood’s Michael Blanda finished the scoring with two minutes to play.

“That goal before halftime really killed our momentum,” said Wildwood Catholic coach Tommy Bolle. “But we also should have come out harder in the second half.”

The victory was Wildwood’s first against Wildwood Catholic since a 2-0 result in October 1991. Wildwood Catholic had won 18 straight games against the Warriors. Overall, Wildwood Catholic holds a 27-3-2 advantage in the rivalry.

But on this day, the fact that the teams are simply playing again was more important than the result.

“This is a fantastic thing,” Zampirri said. “This is about getting the kids out here to play each other and getting that camaraderie on the island going again. These guys all have buddies on the other side. They grew up together in grammar school. This is all about the kids. We have to keep this thing rolling.”

Bolle, a 2019 graduate of Wildwood Catholic, experienced the rivalry for the first time. He never got the chance to play Wildwood as a high school athlete.

“I love this,” Bolle said. “It’s a great game to play. It’s something I’ve wanted to see for a long time. It’s a great rivalry. The kids have always wanted to get out and play one another.”