The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper


Vol. 16 No. 28 - May 11, 2016

sports

Middle schoolers take the pitch

After years of friendship and meeting on the flag football field, basketball court, community center baseball diamond or the Center's soccer fields, friends once again met up on a head-to-head match up on Tues., May 3. Middle schoolers from King Middle School, Saint Stephen's Episcopal School and Manatee School of the Arts took the field for 40 minutes of play.

Thomas Heckler protected the goal for Team Coldwell Banker. The nerves-of-steel goalie has been the recipient of the Sportsmanship and Goalie of the Year awards from the Center in several sports, including soccer.

Heckler was supported on the field by flag football star Jackson Hayes and relative newcomer to the island David Thompson.

For Team Beach Bums, Sean Rodriguez moved the soccer ball well in the game, but found the defense of Thompson an obstacle at times.

Tyler Brewer, last season's MVP, took a hard shot on goal for Team Coldwell Banker that was stopped by Team Beach Bum's goalie Javier Rivera. On the next possession, Brewer's teammate German Rivera got the ball to his feet near the goal. Feeding Hayes the perfect pass, Hayes scored the team's first goal advancing the score to 1-0 for Coldwell Banker.

Looking to tie the ballgame, Thompson stole the ball from Rodriguez after he lost his footing on the field. Getting back to his feet quickly, Rodriguez took the ball back and shot hard. Showing why he has been recognized as the best goalie in the league, Heckler made a nice diving save, stopping Rodriguez's goal.

Rodriguez took the corner kick, which was saved by Ava Zink. Zink has also earned her accolades in the past as the Female MVP of multiple sports at the Center, including soccer.

G. Rivera took a shot on goal that was high and to the right. On defense for Beach Bums, Bryce Higgins applied strong pressure all night, frustrating the offense of Coldwell Bankers.

Rarely seen in youth soccer at the Center, brothers Javier and German Rivera found themselves on different teams and on different sides of midfield. In the goal, J. Rivera continued to deny Team Coldwell Banker its second goal by stopping the corner kick by Thompson.

The newest player for Coldwell Banker, Ella Arens, took the field. Arens defensive support, Riley Baugh, stopped an offensive run by Dalton Guthrie for Beach Bums. Ben Brashear, for Team Beach Bums, threw in the ball at the sideline, only to hit Thompson, who dribbled the ball past midfield.

Thompson got the ball to the feet of Brewer, who had nobody to pass it to. Brewer eventually found his cousin, Travis Bates, who took the shot. Travis' shot was just wide and out of the reach of goalie J. Rivera. Brewer took the next shot for Team Coldwell Bankers, but kicked it right to J. Rivera.

With six minutes left in the half, Guthrie replaced J. Rivera in the Beach Bums goal.

With the clock ticking off more than five minutes, Brewer found an opening and scored the second goal of the night for Coldwell Banker.

Beach Bums started the second half with a two-point deficit. After six minutes of play, veteran player Daniel Sentman patiently waited for the opportunity to shoot, scoring the first goal for Team Beach Bum and bringing the score to 2-1.

Back on offense, Brewer jukes against the defensive feet of Rodriguez, moving the ball around him and striking hard on the goal. The ball sailed just high. Brewer's next shot was just left of the post.

Picking up the game pace, the speed of Hayes chasing the soccer ball down the sideline allowed him to beat all of his opponents. Hayes struck with his left foot past Guthrie moving Team Coldwell Banker ahead again by two goals.

J. Rivera was moved back into the goalie position, but his skills just could not stop the third goal by Hayes. The hat trick was possible because of the assist by Thompson.

With the score 4-1, Rodriguez took the goal for Beach Bums. Trying to make the offensive difference for his team, J. Rivera kicked the ball through the defenders to have clear access to the Coldwell Banker goal. Goalie Heckler managed to get on the ball before it passed the scoring threshold.

Despite a strong effort by Beach Bums, including shots on goal by Rodriguez, strong defense by Connor Ludwig, Fiona Turner-Leathem, and Alex Winterhalter, Team Coldwell Banker come out victorious.


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