Goalkeepers hard at work on The Center pitch

ANNA MARIA – The spotlight is on adult co-ed soccer at The Center now that the hardcourt is quiet with the completion of the adult basketball season and the naming of a youth soccer champion for the fall. With two games left in the regular season, the goalie statistics were highlighted in week five adult soccer action.

Going into week six, Slim’s Place’s Tyler Brewer ranks fourth in the league with 22 saves, tied with Ben Sato for Sato Real Estate. Brewer’s ranking comes without stepping foot at the net in game five, with the return of Tuna McCracken in the keeper spot.

McCracken received the all-clear to return to the field after breaking his hand during the last flag football season. Despite the loss to Servis First Bank, McCracken made nine saves against the opponent’s offensive threat.

Offensively for Slim’s Place, Brewer made a beautiful assist to Jessica Williams for the team’s only goal in the game.

Olaf Krause and Osvaldo Cabello split the goalie responsibilities for Servis First with four stops each, helping to win the game for their team along with goals by Ugur Durmaz and Erica Nielsen. Krause and Cabello have 17 and 16 stops in the season, respectively.

Second game action included 11 total saves, split between the Emily Moss Designs’ goalie, Ryan Moss, and Raul Loera and Keith Mahoney for The Gitt Team. Mahoney has 17 stops to his name in the season.

Moss finished with six strong stops in his team’s win, while Loera put two in the books along with a single by Mahoney. As the league leader with 32 saves at the end of the fifth week of play, Moss is followed by Blalock Walters’ Robb Marshall at 27. Marshall did not add any stops last week, but teammate Greg DeMeuse had five in his team’s win over Sandbar.

In a close one, The Gitt Team goalies were not able to stop Connor Haughey and Lindsey Styka, each with a goal, or Kevin Roman. Emily Moss Designs’ Roman had two goals in the team’s second win of the season.

Edd Monzon scored the only points for The Gitt Team, giving the team a 2-3 record.

Still looking for their first win, Sandbar’s Jessica Ruekberg protects the goal with clear experience, stopping eight strikes last Thursday night. Talking to her team, Ruekberg’s cues and coaching just were not enough against the shooting arsenal on the Blalock roster.

With Ruekberg in goal, part-time goalkeeper Steve Oelfke was able to step out onto the field last week, assisting with one of the two team goals. As a goalie, Oelfke ranks third in the league with 23 saves.

The hat trick by Chris Scott and two goals by Matt Staggs was too much for the Sandbar squad to match.

Handily on top of the rankings, the Sato Real Estate team goes into week six undefeated, and thus far unmatched. Beach Bums, with one win, was not able to challenge the opposition, but managed to get two shots past the Sato keeper.

Ben Sato, one of the top-ranked goalies in the league, had three saves in the game, only letting two strikes get by him. The strong Sato Real Estate defense held Beach Bums to single points by Robert Fellowes and Logan Richelieu.

The Beach Bums goalkeeper, Mark Long, who has 18 stops in five weeks, made five nice saves in the game, while allowing Will Kretzmann to score a hat trick of his own. Consistent league goal scorers Greg Ross and Danny Anderson had solo goals to help team Sato capture their fifth win.

This week Sato Real Estate faces a talented but middle of the pack Blalock Walters team, who closed out last week with a 3-1-1 record.