Islanders can’t be held down!!

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Islanders can’t be held down!!

March 16, 2014 by David Svien

The Whidbey Islanders GU18 select soccer squad players (most of them, anyway), winners of six straight. (Kali Barrio photo)

Jacalyn Hefflefinger owns the goal right now.

Scoring her sixth goal of the season Saturday, to go with an awe-inspiring score from teammate Jenn Spark, Hefflefinger sparked the Whidbey Islanders GU18 select soccer squad to its sixth straight victory.

The 2-0 home triumph over the Issaquah Arsenal lifts the Islanders to 7-2 on the season, and they get right back at it with a home game at Ft. Nugent (2 PM) Sunday.

Saturday, Whidbey dominated Issaquah from the moment the two teams stepped on the field. The Islanders peppered the Arsenal goalie, claiming a 20-3 shot on goal advantage.

With Morgan Zylstra manning the net for Whidbey, that freed goalie Kenzie Perry (“like a pit bull up front”) to play in the open field, and the fleet-footed one helped kick-start the offense.

Perry moved back into goal in the second half to combine with her teammate on the shutout.

The Islanders broke through when Spark took advantage of a free kick earned by Erin Rosenkranz.

Spark blasted a shot from 20 yards out that neatly curved over the Arsenal wall and plopped right into the corner of the net as the Issaquah goalie could only watch the shot in horror.

Pressing hard in stoppage time, Whidbey sprung Hefflefinger for the game-capping goal.

With mighty mite Micky “Two Fists” LeVine pressuring the defense, Tori Wellman pilfered the ball and slapped a picture-perfect crossing pass to Hefflefinger. Two seconds later, the golden-toed shot-maker had scored again and the celebration was on.

With contributions from every one on the roster, Islander coach Sean LeVine picked Paige Waterman and Becca Pabona as his players of the game.

“Paige matched their big, fast bruiser stride for stride and showed how strong she can be,” LeVine said. “We know Paigey is a great defender, but she battled their toughest player all game and won and took her out of the game!

“Becca played hard from box to box, battling for every 50/50, and really helped to control our possession,” he added. “Great job!”