A Confederate embarrassment of offensive riches overwhelmed Hanover’s defense Friday night as the visiting Lee-Davis boys soccer team defeated the Hawks 2-1 and cemented its claim for the Capital District regular season title.

  Travis Cook led Lee-Davis with a goal and an assist. Chris Kunca scored the winning goal for the Confederates with assists from Cook and Blake Thompson.

  Lee-Davis remains undefeated in the Capital District with an 8-0 record (11-1-2 overall).

  The Confederates’ closest challenger is Atlee with a 4-2-1 district record and with no way to overtake Lee-Davis before the regular season ends.

  Hanover fell to 3-3-1, 5-7-1 with the loss. The Hawks are left fighting for a second place finish with Atlee and Henrico (3-3-0 in the Capital District).

  The game featured a lot of contact, as members of both teams fought hard for the ball, but according to Cook the aggressive play was typical.

  “We just came more aggressive, I think,” Cook said. “The games have always been hard-fought between us – it’s a really big rivalry here. I think that we came here with the mentality that we could do it and we just showed them that.”

  Cook said one thing the Confederates have worked hard on is moving the ball around.

  “We’ve been practicing – making practice passes,” Cook said. “I think we just connected real good and found the goal.”

  Cook scored the first goal of the evening in the 10th minute when he took a pass from Tyler Womble and broke behind the defense.

  “I was gone,” Cook said. “I just was there all by myself and just took on the goalie one-on-one and found the goal.”

  The Hawks tied it up in the 27th minute with an unassisted goal by Alex Taddiken that slipped just beneath the cross bar and the outstretched arms of leaping keeper C.J. Stevens.

  The Confederates were determined to get back on top, however, and went ahead for good just before halftime on Kunca’s goal in the 39th minute.

  Cook passed the ball to Thompson, who had a long run through Hanover’s defenses before finding an opportunity to pass to Kunca.

  “Blake played it in,” Kunca said. “That’s what we’ve been working on – the far person has to crash the goal. ... Blake played an amazing ball across and I was just there at the right time.”

  For Hanover coach Joe Broscious, intensity made the difference.

  “I think we came out a little flat. They took advantage of it,” Broscious said. “There were a couple of defensive miscues that we had that led to their two goals. In the second half, we weren’t able to take advantage of the opportunities that we had.”

  The Confederates were less aggressive in the second half, preferring to emphasize defense rather than offense.

  “They stepped up. I think we had the mentality that we were already ahead, so we wanted to play safe,” Cook said. “We toned it down because if we go too far, we get caught off position and they slip in and get a goal. So we just wanted to not push too many people forward.”

  The more cautious strategy worked. Despite a more vigorous Hawks attack in the second half, the Confederates defense was solid. Hanover came close, but never found the net.

  “I think we improved, much more so in the second half. It was much more of a team effort going into that second 40 minutes,” Broscious said. “I thought maybe we could have pulled something out, but we just ran out of time at the end.”
 
Lee-Davis…............................... 2 0 – 2
Hanover….................................. 1 0 – 1
LD: TCook, Kunca, H: Taddiken
Saves: Stevens (LD) 9; Phillips (H) 10; Rice (H) 6.
Records: Lee-Davis 8-0 Capital, 11-1-2; Hanover 3-3-1, 5-7-1.