Cardinal Gibbons Crushes Shelby in State 2A Soccer Championship

Senior forward Daniel Montero had a hat trick to lead the Crusaders of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons to a dominating 5-0 victory over Shelby in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2-A men¹s soccer championship on Sunday afternoon at the Curtis and Jackie Dail Soccer Stadium at N.C. State University. Montero was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship match as Gibbons made its fourth consecutive appearance in the final. The Crusaders, who also won the state crown in 2006, finished the season 24-2-2. The Crusaders built a 3-0 first half lead, including a pair of goals within a 32-second span late in the half, to take command. Senior Seph Babington opened the scoring in the 28th minute, tallying on an assist from Ryan McAnallen, and then Montero made it 2-0, hammering a shot home from eight yards out after a nice through ball from Michael Zimmerman with just less than three minutes to play in the first half. Just seconds later, Gibbons went on top 3-0 as Montero beat a defender and then the goalkeeper with a couple of one-on-one moves. Junior Marc Lenzo scored a goal off an assist from Babington in the 44th minute for a 4-0 advantage, and then Montero¹s third goal of the day in the 67th minute, closed out the scoring. Montero finished the season with 24 goals on the year, leading Gibbons in scoring for the second consecutive season. Gibbons outshot Shelby 18-4 on the day and recorded its 16th shutout of the year. Shelby, in its first NCHSAA men¹s soccer final, ended the season 19-3-2, but the Golden Lions had not lost since the fourth match of the regular season