Coupeville Sports

Islanders goalie Kenzie Perry (in yellow) is a little excited. (Kali Barrio photos)

Whidbey strong.

And then the tourney was over and it was time for a nap on the ride home.

Through heat, through missing players, against top-level competition, the Whidbey Islanders GU18 soccer squad refused to break.

Playing at the Crossfore Select Tournament in Redmond over the weekend, the Islanders, sparked by a younger player on loan, became the only silver team to beat a gold-level squad. And they did it with style.

Facing the North Kitsap Blast Sunday, Islander goalie Kenzie Perry was flawless, deflecting shot after shot during a first half barrage. Whidbey almost won the game in regulation, when Paige Waterman sent a ball just a millimeter over the crossbar on a header.

Once in a shootout, it was all Whidbey as Jennifer Spark, Kendra Warwick, Perry and Lydia Peplinski (a guest player from the U15 Whidbey Islanders) all converted, handing their squad a hard-fought and much-deserved 1-0 victory to cap the tourney.

The win capped a run in which the Islanders went 1-1-2. After a draw Friday, they somehow pulled out a 0-0 draw with Fuerza FC High Performance early Saturday morning, despite playing “the roughest-looking first half of soccer I’ve seen them play yet,” according to coach Sean LeVine.

The only bump in the road came in the afternoon game Saturday, when the Islanders fell 3-0 to high-powered FME Fusion. That game was scoreless until the final seconds of the first half, but then a rival player broke out for a hat trick to send her team to the championship game.

LeVine was pleased with his team’s resilience, however, as they continually bounced back against bigger, older squads.

Losing Ayla Muller to an injury in game two didn’t help, as that left the already-depleted Islanders with just one reserve and forced Perry to stay in goal for the entire tourney.

“It was a tough tournament,” LeVine said. “The teams we faced were not as tough as we saw in our last tourney, but it was hot and we were missing several players.”

Numerous players stepped up big-time, headlined by the irrepressible Perry, who commands the field (while keeping one eye out for cameras) while in goal.

“Kenzie stepped up in a big way. Other notable players were Micky LeVine, whose last two games were some of her best soccer we’ve seen yet,” LeVine said. “Jacki Ginnings, who saved our butts probably 50 times this weekend as she flew around the field tackling the ball. Emily Miesle was in Beast Mode almost all weekend and people held their breath every time she touched the ball.

“Kendra was the team leader and was always at the center of the action providing pressure relief for her teammates, directing traffic, and always looking for that killer pass,” he added. “A big thank you to Lydia for filling in for our missing players. She was a huge contributor this weekend and we would not have done near as well without her.”