The Delphi boys’ soccer team opened up sectionals on Friday, Oct. 10. The Oracles faced off with Benton Central in the first round. Delphi started off hot with a Daniel Jakes goal, assisted by Kenny Zaldivar, in the 14th minute of play. From there, phenomenal defense by the Oracles led them to a 1-0 victory over the Bison from Benton Central thus advancing them to the sectional final.

Looking to win a sectional title and seek revenge from last year’s loss in double overtime, the Oracles had to face off with a big rival in Faith Christian for the championship. Delphi did play Faith in the regular season and lost 2-0, a motivating factor going into the championship. Delphi’s defense once again played phenomenally, holding Faith to no goals in the first half.

With the score still 0-0 starting the second half or play, Delphi hoped to connect offensively for a goal. Unfortunately, the Oracles weren’t able to produce any points and headed into overtime against the Eagles. Great defense from both squads led to a scoreless overtime, and the winner of the game to be determined by penalty kicks. The Oracles made four out their five penalty kicks with goals from Daniel Jakes, Kenny Zaldivar, Isaias Cervantes, and Dean Hampton. Delphi definitely put some pressure on their opponent with those four makes. Faith missed one penalty kick and made three with their final striker coming to the ball for the final kick.  Senior keeper, Brayton Slifer, came up clutch though with a final save leading the Oracles to a 4-3 win in penalty kicks and the program’s first sectional championship.

Delphi, still hungry for more wins, moved on to the first round of regionals at Peru. Unfortunately, the Oracles fell to Eastern by a score of 1-0, with a heartbreaking overtime goal scored against them with a minute left to play.