Mid-Cape United Falls In Quarterfinals To AC Independence

HYANNIS – A battered Mid-Cape United roster fell to AC Independence 3-1 in the opening round of the Cape Cod Soccer League playoffs Sunday at Barnstable High School.

Sixth-seeded Mid-Cape (1-8-3) entered the Davis Cup quarterfinal match missing their top four scorers plus top defender and could not keep up with third-seed ACI (8-3-1), who went up 2-0 and scored again late to hold the visitors at bay.

“I think the game tonight was reflective of our season as a whole,” said Mid-Cape player-manager Geoff Champagne. “We were in it, but we never actually finished it off. We didn't play the full 90. Just a couple mistakes is all it takes.”

The scoring opened in the 14th minute off a corner kick, the delivery into the box pinballing from the head of one ACI player into a header buried toward the right post by Felipe Campos. 

Mid-Cape survived a couple of dangerous chances to maintain the 1-0 deficit at the half. But around the 55th minute, ACI added another goal, this one a beauty of a strike by Hudson Silva from the left side of the pitch across the box into the right corner.

Only five minutes later, Mid-Cape turned the opening round playoff match back into a contest via a free kick by Joel Wilson, who threaded a ball on the ground through a crowd to Colin Moore, who punched it in. 

ACI put the game away at the 82nd minute with an impressive coast-to-coast sequence. After elusive moves brought the ball out of the corner and away from multiple Mid-Cape players, a pass was sent to Alex Correia, dashing past the backline, who then traveled three-quarters of the field to the opposite box, deked and finished the one-on-one against Mid-Cape goalkeeper Freddie Rosen.

Mid-Cape had fallen twice in the regular season to ACI: 1-0 in their first game of the year on a very late score to break the stalemate and 5-2 in mid-July in a match Mid-Cape had led in the second half.

“Today's game was typical ACI taking advantage of our mistakes,” Champagne said. “They didn't make many for us to take advantage of, but when they did, we didn't convert a couple of them.”

Champagne was sidelined Sunday with a sprained ankle, as was Mid-Cape’s second-leading scorer Luke Hartigan. The team was also missing its leading scorer Finn Madigan, who needed to return to Ireland but had scored in four consecutive matches to close out the regular season.

“He's someone that consistently put the ball in the back of the net, especially as the season wore on, which was a bright spot because for this team, goals were one of our issues,” Champagne said. “They started falling as the season went on. We just got better at it, but he was one consistency that was really nice to have, and then all of a sudden he's gone, and it just changes everything.”

Mid-Cape earned their first win of the season July 22 in a 2-1 result against Stable United. After falling behind 1-0, Madigan scored at the 27th minute on a free kick and Wilson scored in the 44th minute on a penalty shot. The team — which played “musical chairs” with a different lineup for every single game this season, according to Champagne — had just two or three reserve players on the bench.

“But the group that we did have on the field played fantastic,” he said.

After the season-ending playoff loss to ACI (the league’s reigning runner-ups in both the table standings and Davis Cup playoffs), Champagne recognized Rosen and Romero Graham with game balls.

Rosen was the team’s most consistent goalkeeper and made the “prettiest saves,” Champagne said. He’s going into his senior year at New England College.

“I'm excited for him,” Champagne said “I hope he gets to play a lot and they can see the player we've seen here.”

Graham, meanwhile, had been to every game, a rarity among players for the club this year.

“He plays hard,” Champagne said. “His heart's in every touch. Just one of those guys who's been showing up. I can't remember the time he hasn't shown up.”

In other local Cape Cod Soccer League postseason action, seventh-seed Breakers FC (0-9-3) fell to second-seed Stable United (7-3-2) 3-1 Sunday at Sandwich High School. League table-winners Nauset Storm (9-2-1) earned a bye in the quarterfinals and were slated to play fourth-seed Upper Cape United (6-3-3) in the semifinals Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Nauset Regional High School. The league’s championship was scheduled for Sunday.