Soccer keeping Sandpoint fans happy
YOUTH LEAGUE
? U5 — Broccoli vs. Brussels Sprouts. The Broccoli team showed great spirit and teamwork in the victory Saturday. The Broccoli team would like to thank the Brussels Sprouts for a fun game and a special thank you to Alia’s grandparents for the snacks!
? U10 Girls — Nighthawks vs. Ospreys. The Nighthawks took a 2-0 halftime lead with goals made by Khloe Kyllonen and Hannah Strauss. During the first half, goalie Victoria Burg was a brick wall. Nothing went past her. Lindsay Guthrie and Adeola were also incredible. The Ospreys roared back in the second half to post a 5-2 win. The girls were extremely good sports. In last week’s game, Hannah Strauss of the Nighthawks was the MVP, scoring two goals — one with excellent passing from Alexandria Brown. The newcomers to soccer, Khloe Kyllonen and Emily and Haley Nicholson were extremely impressive.
? U10 girls — The Ravens registered a 3-1 win over the Kites in action Saturday afternoon at Farmin-Stidwell. Mackenzie Tillberg scored two goals, and Violet Plummer added the other goal to lead the Ravens. Lanie Search scored the Kites’ lone goal in defeat. Mathew Klein did an excellent job as referee.
STRIKERS
? U10 Boys — The U10 Strikers traveled to Castlegar, B.C., to participate in the Kootenay South tournament. The U10 team continued to improve their quality of play. Tactically their defensive shape was brilliant. They incorporated pressure/cover and balance on the back line. On the attack they continued to find diagonal balls and switched the point of attack often. Roan Allen had an outstanding tournament. His speed and power on the defensive back line was amazing. Haines Johnson played alongside Allen and played a tough physical tournament. Johnson knew when to step in make a tackle. Nick Rapoport and Jack Rinck helped anchor the solid defensive back line as each shared defensive and mid field duties. Rapoport was solid in the back line and had some great footwork at mid. Rinck played some great diagonal through balls from the outside mid position and defensively had some good shoulder tackles. Amos Crossingham played forward and outside mid. Crossingham was linking passes together with his teammates and pressing hard on the attack. Landin Filipinni had a great tournament as forward and outside mid. Filipinni used his attacking skills to beat the opposition’s defense and get in behind. He generally caused mayhem in the attacking third. Julian Nizzoli played keeper and on the defensive back line. Nizzoli had a brilliant goal with a strike from the mid stripe. It sailed over the keeper’s hands and into the net. Nizzoli also had some remarkable saves. Jake Tremble shared keeper duties with Nizzoli. Tremble was quick off his line to wrap up any loose balls. Lucas Chapman battled the flu all weekend but admirably played in each game. Chapman had some nice runs on attack. Patrick Rockwell and Cory Diel split time between center mid and forward. Both Diel and Rockwell had outstanding passing games. They got the ball off their foot quickly, usually with only one or two touches. Diel scored on a nice strike from about 10 yards out. The U10 boys went 0-2-2 in a U12 bracket. The two looses were close matches. Playing up by two years, the team did remarkably well.
? U14 Boys — Strikers win Northwest League Championship
On May 10, the Striker U14-Boy’s team defeated the Post Falls Thunder 1-0, giving them a share of the U14/15 Northwest League Championship. With the win, the team finished league play with a record of 5-0-1, scoring 25 goals, allowing only one, and posting five shutouts. The lone goal was scored by Hanson, while Player of the Game honors went to Ariss, Broehl, Hutchens, Meyer & Rokstad. Hutchens played the entire game in goal, recording his 7th shutout on the season, giving him a 0.19 goal against average.
On May 7, the U14s defeated the Coeur d’Alene Sting 3-0 in league play. Meyer, Smith & Zarate came thru with great goals, while the assists were provided by Smith, Suppiger & Wahl. Player of the Game honors went to Brown, Hanson, Jones, Reasor, Smith & Suppiger. Hutchens & Myers combined in goal for the shutout, making tremendous saves to keep the Sting scoreless. With last week’s two wins, the team improved their record to 6-2-2 overall, scoring 26-goals, allowing only four and posting seven shutouts. Next up for the U14s is the Coeur d’Alene Tournament this coming weekend, where they will take on the Spokane Falcons on Friday, Blacksnake on Saturday and Glacier United on Sunday.
? U17 Boys — The Sandpoint Strikers U17 Boys team, coached by Adam Tajan and assisted by Matt Linscott, were able to wrap up their scheduled league season with a pair of wins on Saturday against the Moscow U17’s and the Coeur d’Alene Sting U16 team. With the wins, Sandpoint stood on top as District I League Champions! Scoring in the Moscow game were Miquel Mendez on an assist from Ben Murray, Clayton Weme on an assist from Zac Linscott, Adam Crossingham on an assist from Daniel Anderson, and Spencer Swerin on an assist from Adam Crossingham. The final score was 4-0. In the second game against Coeur d’Alene Sting, goals came from Adam Crossingham with two goals on assists from Daniel Anderson and Spencer Swerin, and a hat trick went to Daniel Anderson with an assist from Tanner French. The final score was 5-1. Sandpoint travels to Tacoma this weekend to play in the Showcase of Champions.
A Kick in the Grass is a coach-submitted recap of the youth soccer action in Sandpoint. It runs every Thursday during soccer season in the Daily Bee.