U12 Sandpoint Strikers advance to Washington Cup Semifinals

Strikers FC sent two teams to Washington Cup this spring, culminating with the most recent games over the weekend on April 20.

The Washington Cup had a qualifying weekend played in Pasco, Wash., and a finals weekend held over in Seattle.

Both Sandpoint U12 teams breezed through into the finals weekend. And although both teams have had success at previous tournaments, the competition from the Washington Cup had both teams out of their comfort zones throughout the games.

The U12 girls started off their qualifying weekend with a team that had beat them last fall 1-0. This time, however, the girls powered past a team from Spokane 2-0 with goals coming from Fiona MacDonald and Marlee McCrum.

Game two put the girls up against anther familiar foe, a team out of Tri-Cities.

MacDonald took over the game and powered four goals into the net to secure a 4-2 victory. These goals were not possible without setups from the whole team.

The final qualifying game matched Strikers up against another team out of Spokane.

Because of the way the other games in the group panned out, the Strikers had to win to move onto the finals.

The Strikers opened up the scoring from a PK that was tucked away by Ava Glahe after a hand ball in the box.

There were five other different goals this game by Bayah Ratigan, Brecken Mire, Hope Barnes, MacDonald and Taylor Kirsch.

The Strikers controlled the game from start to finish; there was nothing the team from Spokane could do to stop them from scoring.

Over the weekend the team only gave up two goals.

Anchoring the defense was Lilliana Brinkmeier, who made some critical saves in all three games to keep the momentum with Sandpoint. The back line of the three rival those of any team. Cecila Dignan, McCrum and Ava are a special group and hardly get broken down.

Midfield positions were filled by Mackenzie Mitchell, Bayah, Aubrey Knowles and Barnes. Lily Evans and Reese Burnett may not have scored this weekend, but Evams hit the post on a screaming shot that had the goalie beat, but just bounced out.

Evans had additional attempts throughout the tournament that just missed the mark.

Burnett also had opportunities to net a couple goals but did not let that slow her down, she was pivotal on the outside with crosses that found their mark that were tapped in by other players.

After the weekend was over, the U12 Strikers from Sandpoint not only qualified first in their Eastern group, but also placed eleventh out of 12 qualifying teams state-wide.

The U12 boys had similar results, powering through the weekend coming out first in their group and qualifying fourth out of 18 team’s state wide.

The boys started off the weekend opening up a scoring rally against Hell’s Canyon (based out of Lewiston) in order to win 7-0.

Miles Wheatcroft and Callahan Waters scored two goals apiece; then, Wyatt Fournier, Finn Eppard and Aaron Betz added goals of their own in the shutout win.

All players on the team put forth great effort, communication and true connecting teamwork.

Game two was a much harder task for the team from Sandpoint, as they matched evently against a team from Tri-Cities. It was a hard fought game and Sandpoint found a way to win with tough defense and a 30-yard goal from Dillon Tope.

Game three saw Sandpoint netting two into Surf’s goal, a team based out of Spokane. Cruz Kurtz hit a strong shot in the back of the net and few minutes later a hand ball by the Surf was called in the box, which gave Caiden Gion the opportunity to put Sandpoint up by two with a PK.

They went 120 minutes without conceding a goal.

In total, Sandpoint saw goals scored by eight different players and holding the opposition to only five shots.

The team from Wenatchee, which drew Sandpoint in the quarterfinals will have its work cut out for its players. Sandpoint has faced this team multiple times in the plast with result going close either direction.

The boys will face Wenatchee Friday night at 8:00 pm in Seattle, then will play the semi-final on Saturday and final on Sunday — both in Lacey, Wash.

Meanwhile the girls will play their semifinal match against Seattle Celtic on April 27 in Lacey, Wash. with a chance to play in the finals on April 28.