Gilbert shuts out Wolcott Tech

WINSTED — Gilbert’s girls and boys soccer squads hosted Wolcott Tech in their last two games — and posted shut-outs in both showings. The gentleman Jackets faced the Wildcats on Friday, Oct. 30, where a penalty kick early in the first half gave them the edge in a fiery and even-matched effort at home. The lady Jackets claimed a lopsided 6-0 Senior Night victory on Monday, Nov. 2.

Boys

The Gilbert boys kept Wolcott Tech frustrated out of the gate with clean, aggressive play. The Wildcats responded with a number of good chances that were halted by sophomore Yellowjacket goalkeeper Dan Williams.

Williams’ field sense is remarkable, and his on-field leadership keeps the Gilbert defense organized and alert, disrupting chances before they can fully develop.

Wolcott continued to pick off blind passes to keep pressure in Gilbert’s end but remained scoreless early in the first half.

Play became increasingly physical and heated, forcing officials to bring out matching yellow cards to try to keep a good game from turning ugly.

Late in the half, Gilbert’s Devon Kulinski was given a penalty kick opportunity that he made good on to give the Jackets a 1-0 lead.

Yellowjacket Josh Hoxie showed good hustle off the draw and nearly sank a follow-up goal that was denied in close. Wolcott quickly brought play into Gilbert’s end and attempted to capitalize on a bit of defensive clumsiness that was diverted with an incredible stop by Williams.

The physical, grinding battle continued into the second half, as aggravation became apparent amongst the Wildcats. Gilbert continued to keep energy high and found some success when driving hard through the Wildcat defense, but continued to throw away chances on bad passes.

Gilbert’s Josh Hoxie proved to be an unrelenting thorn in Wolcott’s game, instigating handfuls of bad Wildcat penalties. Hoxie’s speed and clean but clearly agitating play conjured up a bit of trouble, when a midfield collision provided an opportunity for one Wildcat to try to slip a swift kick at the prostrate Hoxie.

Players on both sides quickly converged, but were stopped by officials and coaches before any regrettable action could unfold. A red card was issued to the Wildcats and tensions remained at a near boil.

The Yellowjackets began to win lots of little battles for possession and played high-confidence soccer late in the second half. Hoxie received plenty of physical attention from Wolcott, which kept their game off-balance as any momentum was endlessly interrupted with unnecessary penalties.

Gilbert held on to their first-half lead to take a narrow 1-0 home victory.

Girls

The Lady Jackets celebrated Senior Night with a one-sided 6-0 victory over Wolcott at Walker Field. Gilbert went to work right off the whistle, setting up in Wolcott’s end and keeping pressure constant, earning an early goal by Yellowjacket Jackie Vaccari.

Gilbert continued to find each other with clean passing and cycled the ball deep to generate multiple chances and shots on Wolcott’s net.

The Wildcat defense seemed hesitant to step up and challenge the Jacket offense, which cost them two more quick goals delivered by Vaccari within the first 20 minutes of the game.

Gilbert kept driving up the center, and Wolcott remained unable to clear the ball from their own end, leading to the fourth Yellowjacket goal of the half, tallied by Lindsey Dzielak. Wolcott trailed 4-0 heading into the break.

Yellowjacket head coach Moose Dzielak took the opportunity to have some of his top guns sit out and give his younger players some field experience, including a goalkeeper switch to start the second half.

Vaccari added her fourth goal of the game with a long drive from Gilbert’s end, going unchallenged to the net to increase the Jackets’ lead to 5-0.

Gilbert remained relentless on the offensive and capped their scoring for the evening with an effort from Meghan Dzielak, giving the Jackets a big 6-0 Senior Night victory at home.