Pacelli starts slow, but then rolls into state quarters

After a slow start, the Pacelli Vikings soccer team got down to business and advanced to the GHSA Class A quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Deimel Field, shutting out Savannah Country Day 3-0.

The Vikings were playing in their first game in 13 days following a 3-0 loss to Columbus to end the regular season, while the Hornets were coming off a 4-0 shutout victory over Our Lady of Mercy on Thursday in the first round of the playoffs. Pacelli was awarded a first-round bye for their No. 1 finish in Area 2.

“I hate having that bye,” Pacelli coach Nick Fusco said. “They just played a game four days ago. They were ready for it, they were amped up. Our guys were kind of getting back in the groove.”

Savannah Country Day got most of the chances on offense in the early stages of the first half as it took advantage of Pacelli miscues and fouls and were awarded set pieces as a result. The Hornets had three corner kicks in the first half, while the Vikings didn’t get one until the second half.

“That’s really been our M.O. all season, unfortunately,” Fusco said. “We start slow. We’re a real young team, so we’re inconsistent at times. I think we’ve been down in 10 games this year by 1 or 2 goals. But we always start revving it up 5 to 10 minutes before halftime.

“Someone scores a goal, and then we’re all good.”

That someone on Tuesday came in the form of Manuel Duran, who floated a kick over the head of Hornets goalkeeper Kutter Reddan for the 1-0 lead at halftime. Duran received a perfect centering pass from John Jacobs, who finished with two assists in the contest.

The first half was a physical one as well, with Jake Rehak and George Gottfried both receiving yellow cards for the Vikings in a chippy first 40 minutes between the two teams.

“I was really surprised,” Fusco said. “We played that way all year and we really haven’t gotten a lot of cards.”

“I think we actually have the sportsmanship award hanging up in the band room,” he added with a laugh.

The Vikings seized control in the second half and put the game away as they received the bulk of the free kicks and corners. Sophomore T.J. Fick capitalized on a corner kick from Jacobs early in the half, heading it into the back of the net.

“A lot of scouting reports and probably five or six coaches I talked to said they were weak on corners and free kicks,” Fusco said. “We practiced it for an hour straight yesterday, just over and over. I said in pregame that I wanted to score one or two goals tonight off set pieces, and sure enough, we got one.”

Fick took matters into his own hands later in the half with his second goal, one that snuck in just under the crossbar and over Reddan’s head for the final goal of the game.

“(T.J.’s) big, and he’s so young,” Fusco said. “He scores goals like that for fun. I think that’s the fourth or fifth time he scored a ridiculous goal like that to set everything in motion. He’s fantastic.”

Daniel Mansfield picked up the clean sheet in net for Pacelli with nine saves. Fusco was pleased with his goalkeeper’s effort and being rewarded with the shutout.

“He kind of started the season slow, but the past five or six games, we had a lot of injuries on the back line, and he’s stepped up,” Fusco said. “He’s been saving ridiculous shots over and over. He had a little bit of an easier game, but he did was he was supposed to do. That’s all you can ask out of a keeper.”

The Vikings will face the winner of the Hebron Christian-Mount Paran game, also played on Tuesday, in the quarterfinals on Friday. Fusco says his team is ready to get back on the pitch after Tuesday’s victory.

“Tomorrow we’re going to recover a little bit, but my guys are already asking me what we’re doing and who we’re playing,” he said.

This story was originally published May 3, 2016 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Pacelli starts slow, but then rolls into state quarters."