The Anna Maria Island Sun Newspaper


Vol. 16 No. 35 - June 29, 2016

sports

The Feast captures youth soccer championship

Anna Maria Island Sun News Story

monica simpson | SUN

From left, The Feast's 8- to 10-year-old youth soccer champions
at The Center are Coach David Greene, Elek Brisson, Jackson Kruse,
Gregory Jordan, Konnor Oelfke, Giliany Aldius, Anthony Nguyen,
Kendall Rice and Assistant Coach Jesse Brisson.

With summer break in full swing, the oldest elementary school age futbol players played one last game in the spring season at The Center on Mon., June 13. In the 8- to 10-year-old league championship game, which was delayed by Tropical Storm Colin, The Feast matched up against Team Blue Lagoon Landscape.

Blue Lagoon, coached by Tom Baugher, played with heart and passion for their team and substitute Coach Jessica Baugher. Competing with only six players in the entire game, Coach Baugher encouraged and praised her team through 40 minutes of play.

With Sam Leister in the goal to start for Blue Lagoon, the team could not stop the natural athletic talents of The Feast's Anthony Nguyen, who scored three minutes into the game after receiving a perfect through ball.

Coach David Greene, for The Feast, smartly used the versatility of Jackson Kruse in defense and Giliany Aldius in the goal to start the game. His strong presence in the back field made it difficult for Team Blue Lagoon to advance the ball to the goal. Aiden Templeton continued to show his soccer skills in the championship game for Blue Lagoon Landscape, playing both ends of the field.

In front of the goal, Nguyen attempted to score with a header. Leister prevented the score with the quick reflexes needed to be a successful goalkeeper.

The Feast's Gregory Jordan used his speedy legs to take the ball down the field, sending the ball to Nguyen. Leister came out of the goal to beat Nguyen to the soccer ball, again stopping the score attempt.

In a sea of yellow jerseys, The Feast tried to free the ball to take a shot. With nerves of steel, Leister snatched the ball to stop the offensive threat.

Blue Lagoon's Lily Kawahata displayed her strong ball handling and tenaciousness to take the ball away from The Feast. Showing great hustle in the game, Konnor Oelfke sprinted down the field to try to keep the ball in play for The Feast.

After regaining possession, The Feast's Kruse, took the soccer ball the length of the field to score with 10 minutes left on the clock. With the score 2-0, Team Blue Lagoon did not let down. Coach's son Tommy Baugher used his defensive tactics to prevent Oelfke from moving the ball into scoring position.

Smartly anticipating where the ball would be, Jordan moved in front of Kawahata to win the ball leading to the third score of the championship game for The Feast.

With no substitutes on the bench, Team Blue Lagoon worked hard to keep the victory within reach as the end of the first half of play approached. Missing Evie Baugher, Nick Yatros, Marlin Duytschaver and Ethan Sackett, Blue Lagoon players had no time for breathers or water.

Baugher found teammate Connor Allan down field. Despite strong ball handling, The Feast took the ball off of Allan's feet. Reacting quickly, Baugher rushed to sweep the ball out of bounds in a smart defensive move.

Playing without Juliet Greene and Dante Tilelli, The Feast continued to dominate on the field. As time clicked off the clock, Jordan found an opportunity to shoot again, scoring his second goal in the season ending game taking the score to 4-0.

The Feast used good field formation to its advantage by having break away players ready in the offensive position by the Blue Lagoon goal. Capturing the hat-trick, Jordan had no defensive pressure allowing him to score his third goal before the halftime whistle with a shot that just could not be stopped by Leister.

Kicking his game up a notch, Templeton took a shot that landed right in the hands of The Feast's new goalie Kendall Rice. The last three minutes of the half, Team Blue Lagoon Landscape picked up the pace of its game, became more aggressive on the ball and began to light up the field with its play. With this positive energy, the second half of the game showed why both teams made it to the big show – the championship game.

Kawahata and Oelfke took on the responsibility of tending the goal for their teams to start the half. Kruse took it down the field for The Feast after Elek Brisson took possession. Kawahata could not stop the bullet shot of Kruse, advancing the score to 6-0.

Coach Baugher's continued encouragement kept the heads of her players up, and they fought hard despite the six point deficit. Templeton worked hard on the field to make something happen for his team, but was stopped by the fresher legs of The Feast defense.

Kruse took another shot, but Kawahata's quick hands denied The Feast goal attempt. Showing the sportsmanship nature of the league, Coach Greene mixed up his offense and had Nguyen put on the goalie penny with 13 minutes left in the game. Leister working hard on defense for Team Blue Lagoon successfully challenged Kruse.

Sparked with energy, Blue Lagoon continued to put the pressure on The Feast. The trio of Allan, Leister and Templeton moved the ball down the field looking for the first goal for their team. Just as Allan was about to shoot, Nguyen came out to make the save.

Jordan had another breakaway, but Team Blue Lagoon's defensive pressure forced him to take the shot that went wide. Kruse moved into the goal keep position for The Feast.

Leister tried to drive the ball down the field with the support of teammate Patrick Collin, but The Feast defensive forced the ball out of bounds.

The last five minutes of the championship game saw Team Blue Lagoon Landscape light up the field. After a nice goal kick by Kawahata, Templeton scored the first goal for his team off the perfect pass by Allan taking the score to 6-1.

With the last 30 seconds of the game ticking off of the scoreboard clock, Allan won possession of the ball, stealing it from The Feast. Templeton showed why he has been a top player in the league by scoring his second goal of the game.

Kawahata stopped the final goal attempt by The Feast to end the championship game with the score 6-2. While congratulations should wholeheartedly be given to the winning team, the final score does not reflect the championship attitude Team Blue Lagoon displayed. Both teams competed with winning effort.

This age group's play this season definitely showed exciting future of soccer on the island. Each team had a number of standout players with natural athleticism and soccer talent. Thanks to the great volunteer coaches skills improved and most importantly the kids had fun on the field. Here's to another great youth soccer season on Anna Maria Island.

Sun Scoreboard

Monday June 13

8- to 10-Year-Old Youth Soccer Championship

Blue Lagoon Landscape 2
The Feast 6

Tuesday, June 14

Adult Basketball

Team Sapanora 66
Team Bailey 41

Team Bekkerus 43
Team Aaron 56

Team Calvary 81
Team Terman 65

Thursday, June 16

Adult Co-Ed Soccer

Jiffy Lube 3
Ross Built Construction 2

Eason Builders Group 7
Island Pest Control 6

Wash Family Construction 3
Moss Builders 1

Slim's Place 5
Blake Medical #1 2


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