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Champs hang on to defeat Vikings

By RICKEY CLARDY ~ Sports Writer
Posted 3/26/22

UNIONVILLE — The Cascade Champions scored the first two goals of the game and withstood a Community Viking comeback attempt as the Champions defeated the Vikings 2-1 in a District 6-A soccer …

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Champs hang on to defeat Vikings

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UNIONVILLE — The Cascade Champions scored the first two goals of the game and withstood a Community Viking comeback attempt as the Champions defeated the Vikings 2-1 in a District 6-A soccer match Thursday.
Cascade (2-0, 2-0) spent most of the first half on the Viking side of the field, but the Community defense and Viking goalie Villamar Anica kept the Champs off the board for the first 22 minutes of the game.
After numerous corner kicks, the Champions finally found the back of the net on a corner as Sam Bossam headed in a kick from Carlos Velasques to give Cascade a 1-0 lead and end the first half scoring.
"We've been working a lot on corners," Coach Eduardo Sanchez of the Champs said.
"We had a lot of opportunities on corners the rest of the first half and in the second, but we've got to figure out how to put them in the net."
The Champs kept the pressure on and upped their lead 10 minutes into the second half as Drake Hodge drilled home a shot to give Cascade a 2-0 advantage.
"We had a ton of opportunities in the first and second half," Sanchez said. "That was our break on that one."
Community (0-1-1, 0-1-1) started to drive into Champion territory and scored its first goal at the halfway point of the second half as Randy Anica connected on a penalty kick to cut the Champion lead to 2-1.
"When we scored the PK, we got the momentum and definitely had a couple of chances to tie it up at the end," Coach Jesse Cooper of the Vikings said.
With the goal, the momentum started to swing in the favor of the Vikings. Community was more consistent with its passing, but the Cascade defense kept the Vikings at bay as the game reached the final minutes.
The Vikings had one final gasp with under two minutes remaining as several shots went close to the Champion goal, but the Champs withstood the frenzy and took the district win.
"We improved a lot from our last game and worked on our defense every day," Cooper said. "We still have several small things to work on but our defense definitely kept us in it."
Cascade will have a long break before hosting the Vikings on April 7. Community will take time off before traveling to Cannon County for a district match on April 5.

Cascade 1 1 — 2
Community 0 1 — 1

First Half
Cas — Sam Bossam goal from Carlos Velasques, (17:55).
Second Half
Cas — Drake Hodge goal, (29:59).
Com – Randy Anica penalty kick goal (19:54).