Youth beat the heat with indoor soccer

ANNA MARIA – With the weather heating up going into the summer, the youth indoor soccer action is heating up the hardcourt at the Island’s community center.

Island area kids will not be playing traditional center indoor soccer this season. Instead, the young ballers will play a modified version of micro soccer intended to give the players more opportunities for touches on the ball in the fast-paced sport.

Unlike the original micro soccer, The Center’s league will continue to bang the boards with the soccer ball, a key skill in indoor soccer, elevating the fan excitement.

Testing out a new league configuration, two youth indoor soccer leagues will play this summer in recreational competition: U9 and U13. In general, the U9 league will include players 9 and younger, while the U13 league will roster youth between 10 and 13 years of age.

Despite the league name changes, The Center’s goal with the recreational youth sports leagues remains to help ensure all children are playing in the league that best fits their age and level of play.

In the first official game of the season, Solid Rock Construction beat Blalock Walters 5-1 in the new U9 league. Playing seven-minute quarters in three-on-three action, Solid Rock put three points on the scoreboard thanks to the offensive skills of Tess Bolognone, Mckenna Darak and Aidan Guess.

Each of their single goals contributed to the team’s first win of the season. The team effort was fortified by two goals by Solid Rock Construction’s Matthew Darak, who also had two assists in the game.

On the other side of the ball, Parker Svoboda, for Blalock Walters, scored the team’s only goal in the season opener. Teammate Gavin Angel precisely fed the soccer ball to Svoboda, making the goal possible.

With a strong lineup, Angel and Svoboda are joined by Olive Bannick, Evita Moyer, Olivia Wyatt, Brendan Gerrish, Camden Rudacille and Owen Purcell. The season is early and Blalock Walters knows the win is in reach.

The Solid Rock Construction team goes into week two with a 1-0-0 record. Turner Worth, Isaac Roadman, Eli Roadman and Obie Roadman round out the squad with five more regular season games to play.

Adding a twist to the game, both leagues will be playing without goalies this season, making overall defensive play critical.

In the second U9 game, Bridgetender Inn lost to Ugly Grouper 6-3. Landon Leach and Beau Sanson each had a hat trick for Ugly Grouper.

Bridgetender Inn’s Paul ten Haaf was high scorer, making two goals to keep his team in the game. Madeline Kimmons added a goal to the scoreboard as her team played hard until the final game whistle.

The final two games played last Tuesday night brought U13 teams to the indoor pitch. Moss Builders lost their first game of the season against Shady Lady by one goal.

The single goals by Mason Moss and Elisabeth ten Haaf just were not enough against the three goals by Shady Lady’s Jack Zaccagnino, Jesse Zaccagnino and Alex Monserrate.

High-scoring action proved to be just the way to end a night of indoor soccer at The Center. Scoring 8 points, team Progressive Cabinetry outscored team Freckled Fin for the victory.

With five goals, Barrett Raina started week one on the top of the leaderboard for points scored. Raina’s teammates Walker and Jason Wyatt each had solo goals, as well as Alonso Valle, to keep the point spread comfortable for the Progressive Cabinetry squad.

Showing they will be contenders this season, Freckled Fin scored four goals in the game. David Zupa got past the Progressive defense for two goals. The McRaes, Chandler and Tucker, each tucked a shot in for two additional Progressive Cabinetry points.

The road to the playoffs is promising for all of the teams playing indoor soccer at The Center this summer. The U9 finals are scheduled for Tuesday, July 26 at 6 p.m., while the U13 championship game schedule has yet to be determined.