The varsity soccer season has just gotten under way over the course of the past two weeks, but two things have been made clear: the Dolphins are for real, and ninth grader Peter Pearson is ready to establish himself as arguably the best player in the TCIS, a feat that he made strides towards as an eighth grader.
In his first varsity season last year Pearson gave the Dolphins a major boost offensively. He totaled 20 goals and earned a 1st team All-TCIS selection, a nod that surely thrust him into the spotlight of opposing coaches.
“He's done really well to handle all the focus opposing teams place on him,” head coach Dave Brun said of Pearson. “And he has stayed within the structure of the team.”
And the structure of the team has been dominant through the first three games of the season, and Pearson has picked up where he left off a year ago. After battling through a preseason injury, one that kept him sidelined through a majority of early season practices, Pearson has shined.
“He told me, ‘You know me, let me get his thing right and rest for a while but I'll go all out come game time,’” Brun said. And all out he has gone.
The Dolphins opened the season with a 4-0 dismantling of Denbigh Baptist, a game that was a precursor to an important TCIS tilt against Bishop Sullivan last Tuesday. Cape Henry was expecting a strong battle with Catholic, but thanks to the efforts of Pearson the Dolphins came away with a convincing 4-1 victory.
Cape Henry employed a possession-style approach to the game, and it had lots of experienced players surrounding Pearson in that effort. From the outset the team took control of the ball and the game, spreading apart the defense, and then Peter took over—despite the fact that he was tightly marked the entire game. He opened the scoring in the first half taking the ball from the center line, through a seam and several defenders before finishing the goal, and when all was said and done he accounted for all four Dolphins goals, including an impressive run and finish off a crafty ball played through from freshman teammate Curtis Kirby.
The 4-1 victory further solidified the Dolphins mark as a team to be reckoned with in the TCIS, and it served notice to the remainder of the conference and the state that Pearson and the veteran Dolphins are going to be a handful to deal with.
“He's done well to make as positive an impact inside of the school as he has on the soccer field,” Brun finished. “He is special.”
