Tag: The Center of Anna Maria Island

ANNA MARIA – Last week started the playoff games for another adult co-ed soccer season at The Center. The second game on the Thursday night schedule would prove to be a battle royale, giving the spectators their money’s worth, so to speak.

In a repeat match-up of the last week of the regular season, the top-ranked Beach Bums team, led by Yuri Pereira, took to the pitch with team Salty Printing. Kevin Roman’s Salty squad lost the previous meeting against Pereira’s team by two goals, ultimately putting them in eighth place going into the playoffs.

With technically an undefeated regular season, with a 6-0-1 record, Beach Bums was clearly the favorite to win the quarter-final game of the week.

Coming in as the underdog, Salty Printing could not field a full squad all season, mostly due to season-ending injuries that plagued a number of the team’s players.

This roster issue continued into the first round of playoffs. With five on the field and a goalie, playing one down, Salty Printing fortunately had a substitute player on the sideline – fresh legs that would become critical in the game.

Despite the underdog status and playing with one less player than Beach Bums, Salty Printing played tough and played physical, matching the physicality and energy of their adversary of the week.

Going into halftime, it looked like Beach Bums would be moving forward to the semifinal round of games, but another half of play would prove otherwise.

The Beach Bums squad had a sub on the bench to move in and out of the game as needed, but their lack of use of the additional player in the first half proved to be an error in the final 20 minutes of play.

With the heat of the evening and tired legs getting the best of them, the Beach Bums defense struggled to keep the Salty Printing shooters away from goalkeeper Tuna McCracken.

Despite his best efforts, McCracken finished with five saves in regulation time, letting three get past him.

Taking an onslaught of strikes from the Beach Bums offense, goalie Matt Marshall stopped 10 shots. Marshall was also scored on three times, resulting in a tied game after regulation play.

As the seconds ticked off the scoreboard clock, the bodychecks increased and the action became more heated. With a calamitous step by Pereira onto the leg of Murat Akay, tempers flared and Akay was out for the rest of the game with an ankle injury.

Salty’s scoring was completed by Roman with one point, and Gerardo Urbiola, who was able to get two of his shots past McCracken.

In critical support on the field, Robbie Fellowes, Nate Talucci, Ed Moss and Akay fought for position and the ball for the Salty team.

Lucky Durmaz had all three Beach Bums goals, with an assist by Emily Fischer. Playing both sides of midfield, Tyler Brewer, Blair Schlossberg and Jamie Hutchinson helped take the Beach Bums team to a shootout.

After the spirited play on the field, the energy was high going into the penalty kicks from both teams.

Putting their five best shooters on the official list, the names and order of those selected to fire the soccer ball strategically toward the goal could determine which team secured a spot in the semifinals.

With McCracken on the line, Roman was slated as the first shooter. His shot sailed past the goalie to start the shootout.

Alternating shooting team order, Fischer, Fellowes, and Hutchinson all made their shots for their teams.

A string of four shooters surprisingly missed. Talucci, Durmaz, Gerardo and Brewer, all excellent shooters, could not help their team capture the W.

Finally, Salty Printing keeper Marshall took to the shooter’s position.

Knowing that making the shot could propel his team toward the championship game, Marshall remained calm and shot the soccer ball past McCracken for the team’s third point in overtime play.

Team captain Pereira was the fifth and final shooter for Beach Bums. Making the shot meant another round of shooting; missing the shot meant it was all over for Pereira’s top-seed team.

Feeling all the pressure, Pereira could not put a point in the stats book. The unexpected victorious Salty Printing team worked hard to survive and live to play another week at The Center.

Sun Scoreboard

Thursday, June 10

Adult Co-Ed Soccer Quarter Final Playoff Games

#3 Flynn Law 3

#6 Sandbar 1

#8 Salty Printing 3 Winners In Shootout

#1 Beach Bums 3

#2 C.A.B.B. 9

#7 Sato Real Estate 1

#4 Killer Bait 3

#5 Slim’s Place 5

ANNA MARIA – Youth soccer at The Center starts with preschoolers and parent-coached clinics, moving into competitive recreational games with the 8- to 10-year-old league.

Despite the demise of the traditional Seven Up soccer game, due to a downturn in elementary-school-aged Island athletes, the Parent-Player end-of-the-season game is a custom that made its way to this season’s schedule.

From the youngest player to those about to move to the big field, the clinic participants showed what they learned this season, playing against their coaches and parents.

The basic skills learned on the littlest pitches at the Island’s community center developed into advanced skills on the larger clinic fields.

The throw-ins were stronger.

The goal kicks went farther.

The shots on goal were more accurate.

The saves were amazing.

Playing against the adults brought smiles to everyone’s faces and reminded everyone why community center soccer has arguably been the most popular sport for two decades.

More than a decade later, adult co-ed soccer is still going and growing at The Center. After six weeks of play, there was no movement in the rankings.

At the top of the leader board, C.A.B.B.’s success is in part due to Timo Vecchio, one of the season’s top scorers.

Goalkeeper Connor Haughey, with 48 saves going into the seventh and final week of the regular season, has been instrumental in the team’s wins.

C.A.B.B. faces #3 Flynn Law in the 7 p.m. matchup Thursday, June 3. Playoffs start at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 10.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, May 25

Youth co-ed soccer – semifinal games

8- to 10-year-old league

#3 Bridge Tender 1

#2 Tidy MD 0

#5 Beach Bums 3

#1 Shady Lady 2

11- to 14-year-old league – semifinal games

#2 AM Bath Time 5

#3 Grooms Auto 2

#1 Blalock Walters 2

#5 HSH 0

Thursday, May 27

Adult co-ed soccer week 6

#1 C.A.B.B. (5-0-1) 3

#8 Sato Real Estate (1-5-0) 1

#6 Salty Printing (1-5-0) 2

#5 Killer Bait (2-3-1) 4

#7 Sandbar (1-5-0) 4

#2 Beach Bums (5-0-1) 6

#4 Slim’s Place (2-2-2) 5

#3 Flynn Law (4-1-1) 5

ANNA MARIA – After a week off, the men and women of adult soccer took to The Center pitch again for week five action. Three teams ended last week’s action with four wins and C.A.B.B. on top of the leaderboard, with Beach Bums right behind with the same record.

Playing the second game of the night, C.A.B.B. played against #6 Salty Printing, which finished the night with one win and four losses in the season. Struggling to put a full squad on the field, Steve Oelfke, the goalkeeper for Slim’s Place, played back-to-back games, protecting the net for Salty.

In his first game of the night, Oelfke had 10 saves against the Beach Bums shooting roster, despite the loss. Raul Loera got two shots past the opposing team’s goalie. Osvaldo Cabello scored one goal of his own for his team.

At the half, Beach Bums was down by two goals. With five stops in the game, Beach Bums keeper, Tuna McCracken, was supported by a strong defense, allowing the team’s offense to make quick work of the other end of the field.

Team captain Yuri Pereira had one goal in the game along with teammate Emily Fischer. Lucky Durmaz scored two points in the game along with one assist in the team’s win.

With seconds left on the scoreboard clock, Beach Bums tied up the game, making the final seconds all-important.

The Beach Bums team eked out the win during the final seconds of the game, with the official time kept by the field referee.

This week’s play puts C.A.B.B. on the field against Sato Real Estate. Currently, at the bottom of the ranks, the Sato Real Estate team knows that the championship is still within reach. Playoff action starts on Thursday, June 10.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, May 18

Youth Co-Ed Soccer Week #5

8- to 10-Year-Old League

Bridge Tender (3-2-0) 2

Shady Lady (2-1-2) 0

Beach Bums (1-2-2) 5

Solid Rock Construction (1-3-1) 2

Tidy MD (2-1-1) bye

11- to 13-Year-Old League

The Gitt Team (1-4) 1

HSH (1-4-0) 3

Blalock Walters (5-0-0) 5

Grooms Auto (2-3-0) 2

AM Bath Time (3-1-0) bye

Thursday, May 20

Adult Co-Ed Soccer Week #5

#2 Beach Bums (4-0-1) 4

#4 Slim’s Place (2-2-1) 3

#6 Salty Printing (1-4-0) 3

#1 C.A.B.B. (4-0-1) 6

#8 Sato Real Estate (1-4-0) 2

#3 Flynn Law (4-1-0) 6

#5 Killer Bait (1-3-1) 10

#7 Sandbar (1-4-0) 2

ANNA MARIA – Heading into the final weeks of youth soccer at The Center of Anna Maria Island, the Blalock Walters team in the tween league remains the only undefeated team. With a 4-0-0 record, the squad beat Grooms Auto 5-4 last week in a close match-up.

The offense of the Blalock team kept the Grooms goalkeeper Dalton Fox busy with seven saves in the game. The striking prowess of J.M. Fenney put four points on the scoreboard for his Blalock team. Teammate William Pakbaz added a single goal in the game, helping to give his team the victory.

On the other side of the field, the Grooms Auto’s players up front put four shots in the net against keeper Cale Rudacille, who finished the game with four stops.

Chase Johnson is credited with two goals, along with singles by Dennis Gallagher and Jayden Sparks.

AM Bath Time dominated the pitch against HSH, winning the final game of the night with the score 8-1. Victor Albrecht scored the only goal for HSH in the game.

HSH’s goalie Audrey Guess made nine saves in the game against the loaded offense of the AM Bath Time team.

Jack Mattick led the scoring for his team with four goals, followed by a hat trick by Ava Harlan. Teammate Maddox Culhane had a single goal and an assist in the win.

At the goal, Caden Quinby and Mya Ferrari collectively made seven saves for AM Bath Time.

Solid Rock Construction and Shady Lady both got the W last week in the youth soccer league against Beach Bums and Tidy MD, respectively, in low-scoring games to start the night of soccer action.

Alex Serra had nine saves in the game for his Beach Bums team. Matching the number of saves, the Solid Rock Construction goalie, Austin Guess, also made nine stops.

The only goal of the game was scored by McKenna Darak for Solid Rock in their victory.

With five saves, Andre Harwood made the statistics for Tidy MD. Shady Lady’s Tomas Bartos had two saves and Dylan Phillips had four as the goalies for the winning team.

Kirra Quinby scored the lone goal for Tidy MD. With the big leg, Jesse Zaccagnino eluded the Tidy MD goalie twice to score the two points for Shady Lady, with a 2-0-2 record.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, May 11

Youth Co-Ed Soccer Week #5

8- to 10-Year-Old League

Beach Bums (0-2-2) 0

Solid Rock Construction (1-2-1) 1

Shady Lady (2-0-2) 2

Tidy MD (2-1-1) 1

Bridge Tender (2-2-0) bye

11- to 13-Year-Old League

Blalock Walters (4-0-0) 5

Grooms Auto (2-2-0) 4

HSH (0-4-0) 1

AM Bath Time (3-1-0) 8

The Gitt Team (1-3) bye

Starting the week’s soccer play in a 1-1 tie, team Shady Lady, coached by David Zaccagnino, and James Roadman’s Solid Rock Construction team exemplified the spirit of youth recreational soccer. Competition, skill development, teamwork and fun are all part of the sports experience at The Center.

The Shady Lady offense kept keeper Austin Guess, for Solid Rock Construction, busy defending the shots of players like Jesse Zaccagnino and Tomas Bartos. Four of the Shady Lady squad shared the goalie duties during the game, with two saves by J. Zaccagnino, and single stops by Bartos, Riley Karecki and Oliver Tirpak.

The defenses of both teams kept the scoring to a minimum, resulting in the tie game. The offensive strikes resulted in single goals by both teams.

Solid Rock Construction’s point came from a goal by McKenna Darak. Turner Worth is credited with an assist in the game.

Adding to his statistics in the record books for the week, J. Zaccagnino scored the lone goal for Shady Lady, in addition to his saves while playing in goal. Teammate Bartos made a single assist in the match-up.

With the end of the regular season finishing on May 11, the final games and schedules leading to the championship game will be decided in the coming weeks.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, May 4

Youth Co-Ed Soccer Week #4

8- to 10-Year-Old League

Shady Lady (1-0-2) 1

Solid Rock Construction (0-2-1) 1

Bridge Tender (2-2-0) 0

Tidy MD (2-0-1) 1

Beach Bums (0-1-2) bye

11- to 13-Year-Old League

HSH (0-3-0) 0

Grooms Auto (1-1-1) 1

The Gitt Team (1-2-1) 5

AM Bath Time (2-1-0) 6

Blalock Walters (3-0-0) bye

Thursday, May 6

Adult Co-Ed Soccer Week #4

Killer Bait (0-3-1) 7

Slim’s Place (2-1-1) 7

Salty Printing (1-3-0) 6

Sato Real Estate (1-3-0) 8

Beach Bums (3-0-1) 7

Flynn Law (3-1-0) 1

C.A.B.B. (3-0-1) 5

Sandbar (1-3-0) 1

ANNA MARIA – Although the location of the Island’s community center is not literally the center of Anna Maria Island, The Center is the central gathering place for island area families to play sports, see their friends and family, and support the Island as a community.

With the normal cyclical rise and fall in sports participation on the Island, as well as changes in dynamics and demographics on AMI, the number of youth sports participants has diminished to all-time low numbers in recent years. But the feeling of The Center’s athletic fields was alive and electric again last Tuesday night.

As in the classic days of Island youth sports, not a parking spot could be found around 407 Magnolia Ave. Sounds of cheers and the referee’s whistle could be heard from blocks away.

Lawn chairs filled with parents and grandparents lined each of the many soccer fields. Some fans stayed on their feet so they could watch the action on multiple fields.

Grandparents Karen and Mike LaPensee reminisce about the days that their son, Greg, was a kid playing on the community center field. Now the LaPensees’ grandchildren, including Preston, are running the pitch and scoring the goals.

LaPensee scored one goal for Beach Bums along with teammate Noah Shoulson in the tie against Tidy MD in the Wednesday night games, played on back-to-back nights to make up for the rain cancellations from the previous week.

Youth soccer opened to kids as young as 3 years old several years ago with a clinic-type format. Volunteer parent/coaches like PJ Smargisso and Ryan Moss help the very young developing players learn a few critical skills while growing the love of the game.

For years Moss has given back to The Center as a coach for both of his sons’ teams. Mason and Miles Moss have benefited from the years of experience their father has gained over the years, including his time as an adult player in the co-ed soccer league.

In the first game Wednesday night, Mason Moss scored the two goals in the tie ballgame for Tidy MD. Goalkeeping credits were given to Stryder Petit, Andre Harwood and Shane Bradley.

Likewise, Smargisso – who more recently expanded his family with two daughters – has begun volunteering his time as a coach in the clinic level as he continues to play adult soccer himself.

Moss and Smargisso are not the only parent-players who coach and support their kids at The Center on the pitch. At least temporarily hanging up his boots, David Zaccagnino continues to coach his sons, Jesse and Jack.

Longtime Islanders Jason Sato and Scott Rudacille continue the tradition of youth sports at the Island community center with their sons, Dylan and Brandon Sato and Cale and Camden Rudacille, who are playing once again in the youth soccer league.

Sato had six saves for the Beach Bums squad last Wednesday night with a single save by teammate Charlie Serra.

Helping the Blalock Walters team capture the win against AM Bath Time, Cale Rudacille had five saves in the game, playing the key position his father dominated in the co-ed adult soccer league for a number of years.

The Satos and Rudacilles have, for generations, played sports as children and adults on the Island. The Center’s Executive Director, Chris Culhane, is no different.

Culhane spent his youth playing Center sports. Following in his footsteps have been his two daughters, and in the current soccer league, Chris’ son, Maddox, continues to battle it out on the pitch just like his dad, who plays in the adult league.

The tradition of fathers and mothers volunteering to coach their children’s teams continues at The Center. An even stronger tie to the Island’s community center exists as generation after generation of Island area residents, young and old, test their soccer skills on the pitch.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, April 27

Youth Co-Ed Soccer Week #2

Eight- to 10-Year-Old League

Beach Bums 3

Shady Lady 3

Bridge Tender 3

Solid Rock Construction 0

11- to 13-Year-Old League

Blalock Walters 4

HSH 3

The Gitt Team 2

Grooms Auto 2

Wednesday, April 28

Youth Co-Ed Soccer Week #3

Eight- to 10-Year-Old League

Beach Bums (0-1-2) 2

Tidy MD (1-0-1) 2

Bridge Tender (2-1-0) 0

Shady Lady (1-0-1) 1

11- to 13-Year-Old League

Blalock Walters (3-0-0) 4

AM Bath Time (1-1-0) 2

The Gitt Team (1-1-1) 6

HSH (0-2-0) 1

Thursday, April 29

Adult Co-Ed Soccer Week #3

Flynn Law (3-0-0) 5

Salty Printing (1-2-0) 3

Sato Real Estate (0-3-0) 3

Sandbar (1-2-0) 5

Slim’s Place (2-1-0) 4

C.A.B.B. (2-0-1) 5

Killer Bait (0-3-0) 1

Beach Bums (2-0-1) 7

ANNA MARIA – The rain kept the Island kids off the soccer field last Tuesday night, but the adults enjoyed the weekly competition at The Center on Thursday night for week two action.

At the end of the night, Slim’s Place and Flynn Law were at the top of the leaderboard with two wins.

In the first game of the night, Slim’s Place went up against the Sato Real Estate squad with a fresh roster, still hungry for their first season win.

Despite seven saves by Rico Beissert for team captain Josh Sato’s team, the solid team could not find the net against Slim’s.

The single Sato goal was scored by Ben Sato, typically found in the goal. B. Sato showed why he is a force, not only protecting his team’s goal, but also on the other side of the field taking shots.

Brother J. Sato was credited with the only assist in the game for his team.

Keith Mahoney scored two solid goals for the Slim’s Place team, with a single by teammate Raul Loera.

Steve Oelfke helped his team with the victory with nine recorded saves for Slim’s Place to keep them undefeated.

Flynn Law’s offense kept Killer Bait’s goalkeeper, Erik Shulz, busy in the second game of the night. Shulz finished the night with 17 saves.

The Killer Bait squad, despite two points by Ethan Hampton, just could not surpass the firepower of the Flynn Law team. Eric Pullen and Hakan Toka both hit single shots for goals, while Damir Glavan continued to evade the goalie, scoring two points in the game.

Glavan leads the league in total points scored so far this season with five goals.

Mark Long, Flynn’s goalie, helped solidify the win with seven saves in the record book.

In week three, Slim’s Place will face C.A.B.B. with a 1-0-1 record and Flynn Law matches up against Salty Printing with a 1-1-0 record.

Rounding out the individual league leaders are Tyler Brewer and Yuri Pereira topping the charts for assists, with three each.

The league’s goalkeepers are led by Connor Haughey with 19 saves, closely followed by Ethan Hampton and Tuna McCracken with 17 stops.

This season marks McCracken’s first season in the adult co-ed soccer league after numerous youth seasons, where he was awarded Goalie of the Year honors for most of his career.

The season is young, with plenty of regular-season soccer action to come. Who will end up on top in June?

Sun Scoreboard

Thursday, April 22

Adult Co-Ed Soccer Week #2

Sato Real Estate 1

Slim’s Place 3

Killer Bait 2

Flynn Law 4

Beach Bums 3

C.A.B.B. 3

Salty Printing 5

Sandbar 3

ANNA MARIA – After a couple of weeks off, the soccer action resumed at The Center for the adults last week. The game play started with Sandbar and Flynn Law taking the field.

The first half of the game ended at a 3-3 tie, but Flynn Law turned the game around in their favor after a quick fourth and final goal by the Sandbar team after a bobble of the attempted save by Flynn Law’s Mark Long.

Long ended the game with seven saves in his team’s victory. Two Flynn Law players had hat tricks. Damir Glavan and Eric Pullen both got three shots past the Sandbar goalie, Kevin Mulcahy, for the six points and the win.

Mulcahy made nine recorded stops in the action-packed game.

On the other side of the field, Alecx Pichardo scored three goals of his own for the Sandbar team, with an additional goal by Luis Pichardo.

With week one complete, in addition to Glavan, Pullen and Pichardo, three other players top the scoreboard with three goals. Timo Vecchio, Kali Richardson and Daniel Hampton all put three points in the game stats.

Connor Haughey tops the charts with 10 saves. In his second season as an adult player, Tyler Brewer is on the top of the leaderboard with three assists going into the second week of spring soccer on the Island.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, April 13

Youth Co-Ed Soccer Week #2

8- to 10-Year-Old League

Beach Bums 1

Bridge Tender 2

Tidy MD 2

Solid Rock Construction 0

11- to 13-Year-Old League

Blalock Walters 4

The Gitt Team 1

AM Bath Time 5

Grooms Auto 4

Thursday, April 15

Adult Co-Ed Soccer Week #1

Sandbar 4

Flynn Law 6

Salty Printing 5

Slim’s Place 6

Killer Bate 4

C.A.B.B. 9

Sato Real Estate 8

Beach Bums 3