A fiesty Saturday morning clash saw the Casteel Colts brush aside the Glendale Cardinals 6-1 in the 5A quarter-finals.

A strong first-half performance saw five fly in for the hosts, but while Glendale coach Marissa Surber admits her side was second-best, she felt the scoreline didn’t reflect the nature of the game.

“It absolutely flattered them,” she said. “I think we were chasing them, and playing into their game a little bit, playing into their strengths.”

Glendale fought its way back in the second half with an early goal from Marco Fernandez, but Ethan Calimpong later sealed the deal and a brace for himself with a headed goal.

“I saw the goal going through the air, I was like ‘I know I can get to this, I know I can get to the ball before anyone else’,” Calimpong said.

Several confrontations occurred off the ball in the closing stages. A frustrated Junior Dukulay then received his marching orders with two minutes left in the game, leaving Glendale one short after receiving a second caution for his comments towards the opposition.

“I just know, growing up in Glendale, the west side mentality and everything, these kids have had to fight for everything they’ve ever earned,” Casteel coach Greg Lanman said. “With the scoreline at half-time, I knew things were going to get chippy that second half, and as you see, it happened, I was just telling my boys to look out for one another.”

Casteel moves on to the 5A semi-finals on Tuesday, and their coach is guarding against any complacency from his top-seeded side.

“If you’ve been around soccer a while, the best team doesn’t always win,” Lanman said. “You could dominate stats with possession, passing threads, shots on goal, and give up one or two shots and lose 1 or 2-0. So we have to stay focused, we have to dictate pace, we have to come out ready to play, because if there’s another team a little bit more focused, a little bit more ready, we’re packing our bags and going home.”

 

A photo album from the match is available here.