Strikers teams continue to impress early in season

n North Idaho Avalanche U13 girls

The U13 Avalanche girls started league play on the road by defeating Moscow 4-1 and Pullman 7-0. Scoring for the Avalanche were Kate Lewis, Biffy Shuster, Corinne Ariss, Cia Hanford, Nan Kiebert and Brighton Miller. Caroline Suppiger and Heidi Skinner added assists. Emily Marshall and Kira Clawson anchored the defense that only gave up one goal and four shots on goal in the two games. Aislynn Robertson and Kennedy Kindred handled the ball in the midfield. The Avalanche is continuing to improve and the passing was the best of the season. This week the Avalanche will be challenged by Post Falls and Coeurd’Alene at home.

n U14 Striker boys capture second at the Pend Oreille Cup

The team started off with a win over the Creston Bulldogs on Saturday morning. The offensive lined played a strong game in the 3-1 victory. The second game on Saturday was against Coeur d’Alene Sting, a challenging and exciting game. Our defensive line and an amazing job by our goal keeper resulted in a 0-0 tie. Sunday the team started off with a strong win over the Post Falls Thunder. Just a quick praise for Post Falls Thunder who played strong for the whole game and never gave up. We played our final game on Sunday against Missoula Strikers, which we lost 2-0.

n U10 Striker boys (Barley)

The team traveled to Lewiston on Saturday afternoon and conquered the field, beating Lewiston 5-0. Goalie Noah Hastings, along with defenders Wyatt Pitts, Ryan Barley and Maclain Stultz, held the defensive wall tight, making sure no goals passed through. While midfielders Will Lange, Carson Lewis, Brock Kluver and Finan Lund-Anderson hustled the ball to forwards Ryan McNelley, Julian Barajas and Cameron Petersen. The young team worked together to provide an exciting game with goals provided by Stultz, Hastings, McNelley, and two by Petersen, all assisted by Julian Barajas. The team plays this Saturday at home against the Moscow United.

n U11 Striker boys (Black)

The U11B Black team traveled to Post Falls, finishing the game with a 1-1 tie. Jack Rinck scored the lone goal for the Strikers on a nice run up the middle. Rinck beat three defenders before he poked the ball into the back of the net. Patrick Rockwell had a great game as center mid. He got in hard and won almost all of the 50-50 balls. Nick Griffin had a fantastic game playing forward. His work rate was superb and he attacked the Post Falls defense relentlessly. Griffin was man of the match. Michael Morrison was stellar in goal with several nice saves. Ben Schwartz and Amos Crossingham anchored a stingy defense that did not give up many shots on goal. Riley Ward picked up where he left off last week with some great midfield play. Ward was crafty in making some great attacking runs. Dylan Dufenhorst’s speed was on display as he constantly burned past Post Falls players. Finn Treadaway played some great defense getting back “goal side” to cover his mark. Brennan Powell had a great game as outside mid. Powell had some nice touches on the ball looking up to “find feet.” Reid Golphenee had his second straight game where his play was outstanding. Golphenee hustled and won many 50-50 balls. Gabriel Herrera blew past the Post Falls defense on some nice attacking runs.

n U12 Striker boys (Nizzoli) Team

The Coeur d’Alene Sting, just off their win of the Pend Oreille Cup, were surprised by the Strikers passing game and aggressive offense as the Strikers posted a 3-1 win on Saturday. Niko Wehse scored the first goal with a strong left kick and quickly scored a second goal with another strong kick. The game was a very physical contest with the ball changing possession many times. Jarred Hall fought off several shots on goal, but the Sting were persistent and finally scored the first goal late in the first half. A strong defense by Haines Johnson, Bradley Russell, Zack Smith, Ben Bristow and Kyle Hertel and the goalkeeper kept the Sting scoreless the second half. Kyle fought of multiple shots on goal. Strikers Julian Nizzoli, Sam Johnson, Niko Wehse, Jackson Dierks and Jarred Hall had an excellent passing game and several shots on goal. The game was clinched when Jarred Hall scored a PK late in the second half. The team is showing continued improvements and looking forward to a promising season.

n U12 Striker boys (Red)

Their first two league games were close and exciting. In the first game against Idaho Thunder from Post Falls, Sandpoint scored first with a scorching shot from Cory Diel. Post Falls replied with a goal of their own, ending the first half at 1-1. In the second half, Post Falls scored early, but Jake Tremble, with one of his 1v1 masterpieces, evened the score. The remainder of the game was evenly fought with equal possession; however, one minute before the end of the game Post Falls struck with their final goal two win 3-2. Defenders Gavin Klein and Mahonri Hunsaker kept Sandpoint in the game with help from midfielders Jered Meyer, Michael Barley and Colton Moore. The game against Moscow United was equally intense and demanding. Again, Jake started off the scoring for Sandpoint notching two goals as the half ended 2-2. Down 4-2, Sandpoint dug in their heels. When Moscow fouled 30 yards out, Gavin Klein scored with a long low drive off a free kick rebound. Nick Rappaport followed with a fine header off a cross from Jake, and Jake scored his final and third goal on a 1v1 breakaway. However, near the end of the game, a Moscow player scored his fifth goal of the game, which ended in a 5-5 tie. Lucas Chapman won many balls with his aggressive play in the midfield and Karsten Foster had a fine game in goal.

n U11 Strikers (Red)

In its first two league games of the season the team came out strong this weekend, beating two Spokane Shadow teams and bringing their season record to 6-0. The team beat Spokane Messi 3-1 and Spokane Sky 3-1. Andre Kemink had two more great games in goal and Charlie Crane backed him up well, playing goalie for one half. Three goals from Landin Filippini and a goal each from Damien Fitzpatrick, Spencer Thompson and Carson Andrick pushed the team out in front of its opponents. Coach Brice Filippini was particularly impressed with the team’s patience and chemistry as they built up plays and moved the ball around. Defenders Koen Conner, Owen Stebbins, Scout Nash and Andrew Greiff were stellar in the backfield, protecting the Strikers net and feeding balls to the midfield for impressive runs from Crane, Filippini, Kaden Hitchcock, Jack Griesemer and Tristan Miller. 

n Rec League U5 Tacos v. Pizzas

Tacos came out strong and the first goal was scored by Kylie Williams. Then the Pizzas came back and scored. Tacos continued to be strong with goals scored by Hayden Leavitt, Margo Barton, Owen Larson, William Dotson, Wyatt Leoni and Bryce Hall. Both teams had some confusion on which goal was theirs, but in the end fun was had by all. Thanks Pizzas for a great game.

n Rec League U7 Spiders v. Wasps

The U7 Spiders played an excellent first game against the Wasps. Everyone showed great enthusiasm and energy. Stacey O’Connell and Jade Smith played the goalie position and had some exciting saves. Tyrone Smith, Tanner Dickson and Carver Davis were really fast and had a lot of good kicks. Goals were scored by Lehanna Ogbeide and Christopher Koch. What a great start to the season for the Spiders.

A Kick in the Grass is a coach-submitted column that appears every Thursday during soccer season in the Daily Bee.