Coupeville Sports

Gillian Crossley netted her first goal as an Islander Saturday.

Bounce back, big time.

A day after being drilled by the #9 team in the nation, the GU19 Whidbey Islanders select soccer squad roared back Saturday to play their “best game for this team so far!”

While the Islanders ended up with a 2-2 draw against Tacoma FC at the NCSAA College Showcase Tournament in Puyallup, Whidbey coach Sean LeVine came away pleased with 99.2% of what he saw go down.

“What a great game, and we really deserved the win,” LeVine said. “Tacoma FC was a good team, and I warned the team that if we let up at all they could easily get back into the game, and that’s what happened, but we looked like the better team for most of the game.”

The two teams had fought to a draw three weeks ago, but in that game LeVine felt Tacoma was the better squad. Not so Saturday.

“Our possession, speed, and hustle looked the best it’s ever been today and we really looked like the better team for 70 minutes of that game,” LeVine said.

Newcomer Lydia Peplinski “was a difference maker today, battling hard for the ball as our center mid.”

Her defining play came when she set up fellow first-year Islander Gillian Crossley on a perfectly-placed header.

That allowed Crossley to go one-on-one with the Tacoma goalie, beating her on a ball neatly plopped into the side netting.

Leading 1-0 coming out of halftime, Whidbey “let up a little for 10 minutes”, allowing Tacoma to rattle off back-to-back goals.

The Islanders refused to buckle, however, as the veterans stepped up and took control.

Becca Pabona knocked “a beautiful cross into the box” that goal-scoring machine Jacalyn Hefflefinger nimbly redirected with her head into the back of the net, leaving Tacoma’s goalie looking foolish as she grasped at empty air.

Neither squad could get a tie-breaker after that, but the Islanders used their entire roster, giving every girl substantial playing time.

The three-day tourney is a showcase event for college coaches looking for possible recruits for their programs.

Whidbey will wrap play Sunday when it faces Chinook United from Calgary. On the menu, according to assistant coach Scott Rosenkranz, is “Canadian bacon for lunch tomorrow!”