PREP BOYS SOCCER: Geritone sparks Vikings
<p>LOREN BENOIT/Press Coeur d'Alene High School's Austin Geritone, left, hits the soccer ball by the goal keeper during a match against Lakeland High School on Wednesday at Coeur d'Alene High School. Geritone scored two times and recorded three assists in the 5-0 win.</p>
<p>LOREN BENOIT/Press Coeur d'Alene High School's Dempsey Brewer (2) and Lakeland's Brandon Barker (5) fight for possession of the soccer ball during a match between the two schools at Coeur d'Alene High School on Wednesday.</p>
COEUR d’ALENE — The Coeur d’Alene Viking boys soccer team set a goal to start fast and leave no doubt when it came to taking the field in the school’s home opener on Wednesday.
Three minutes into the match, and again in the 19th minute, they accomplished that goal, among a few others.
Austin Geritone had two goals and three assists for the Vikings in a 5-0 nonleague win against the visiting Lakeland Hawks.
“One of the goals we set in our team meeting yesterday (on Tuesday) was to push it hard early on,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Lake said. “We were able to break through in the first three minutes and then the floodgates kind of opened up. In the first half, we really possessed the ball well.”
Greg DeVerna and Max Bennett scored in the first half, as did freshmen Cameron Dance to give the team a 4-0 lead at halftime.
“It was really cool to see DeVerna and Bennett score their first varsity goal, and to see Dance get his first,” Lake said. “Give it up to Austin. He was definitely the man of the match. He was creating and finishing, and it was cool to see as a coach. He was the only senior on the pitch today and for him, I couldn’t ask for more from a kid coming in to the program.”
Coeur d’Alene (2-0-1) hosts Post Falls to open 5A Inland Empire League play on Tuesday.
Lakeland (1-4-1) travels to Sandpoint to open 4A IEL play on Tuesday.
First half — 1, Cd’A, Greg DeVerna (Austin Geritone), 3:00. 2, Cd’A, Max Bennett (Geritone), 19:00. 3, Cd’A, Cameron Dance (Geritone), 23:00. 4, Cd’A, Geritone (Bennett), 33:00. Second half — 5, Cd’A, Geritone (Bennett), 57:00.
Shots on goal — LL 5, Cd’A 11.
Saves — LL, Max Baker, 6; Cd’A, Shawn McKeeken, 4.