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Archive for the ‘Girls Soccer’ Category

Kalia Littlejohn

Kalia Littlejohn

The only thing little about Kalia Littlejohn is her last name.

The Coupeville Middle School hoops sensation, one half of the Shake ‘n Bake Sisters with CHS freshman Mia Littlejohn, Kalia brings it big everywhere else.

Big game, on and off the court.

I’m not going to tell you the CMS 8th grader, who celebrates a birthday today, is guaranteed to be an all-star at the high school level or beyond.

Judging middle school athletes is a tricky business, at best, and a lot can happen over the ensuing years.

Growth spurts, changing priorities and on and on.

Some talented youngsters end up deep on the bench as they get older, while some scrubs suddenly morph into super stars in their teen years.

Based on Mia, who has already lettered twice in her freshman year, I think Kalia is probably as sure a shot as we will find.

But, you never know and I don’t want to put too much pressure on her.

Either way, though, I will guarantee you this — Kalia will be one of the most entertaining athletes we’re likely to see in Cow Town over the next few years.

She plays all her sports — volleyball, soccer, track, but, most of all, basketball — at a frantic pace.

Like her sister and their brother, Zepher Loesch, before them, Kalia delivers a jolt of electricity every time she steps up to compete.

What puts her further out in front of the crowd is her personality, which is one part sunny, one part mischievous.

Kalia has yet to meet a camera she can’t pose for, and she and fellow young guns like Lindsey Roberts and Sarah Wright seem primed to claim the throne of lens-lovin’ Wolf legends like Kacie Kiel, Julia Myers and McKayla Bailey.

So, on this, her big day, all my best to the littlest Littlejohn.

I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish in the coming years, Kalia.

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After a shave and haircut, soccer coach Sean LeVine was discovered hiding underneath.

After a shave and haircut, soccer coach Sean LeVine emerges a new man.

Sean LeVine’s family thanks you all. Their great national tragedy is over.

With his GU19 Whidbey Islanders soccer squad pulling off a 1-0 victory over the Northshore Evolution Saturday, LeVine finally went in for a shave and haircut, emerging as the silky-smooth coach his wife and three daughters sorta, kinda remembered from the past.

LeVine had vowed to let the locks and grizzle grow until the Islanders broke a recent losing streak, and reports of Sasquatch being seen on Whidbey had followed him during his day job as a paramedic.

No longer, and Lydia Peplinski gets the assist.

Well, actually, it was Gillian Crossley who got the assist, setting Peplinski up for the game’s lone score, but you get the point.

Crossley nabbed the ball early in the second half, snatching the ball out of the air then redirecting it to Peplinski, who banged home the goal from 18 yards out.

Her shot exploded like a firecracker, hitting the turf and taking a wicked curve that caused the Northshore goaltender to bobble it, then watch in silent horror as the loose ball skipped merrily into the back of the net.

The Evolution fought hard to try and get a tying goal, but Whidbey’s defense held strong. Despite playing with just one sub, the superbly-conditioned Islanders held up under fire.

“It was quite a battle and our players had to weather an early onslaught, but they held firm and kept them from having any meaningful shots on goal,” LeVine said. “Our stellar conditioning really won this game today.”

Whidbey came dangerously close to blowing the game wide open, with Crossley, Peplinski and Vivien Valles raining down shots from all sides.

Valles notched her second consecutive Player of the Game honors, showcasing hustle from opening whistle to closing whistle.

“That girl is just going 100%, doing what we ask of her, and the extra effort saved a goal for us today when a player broke through our back line and was caught by the speedy Valles, saving our keeper from having a one-on-one,” LeVine said. “She was also in on several opportunities on the offensive side of the pitch.

“I’m really proud of how well she is contributing right now.”

The Islanders will kick off one of its busiest months with a match Saturday, Mar. 7 (3:45 kickoff) at Wildcat Stadium in Oak Harbor.

Whidbey closes out the regular season and starts state cup tournament play at the end of the month.

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Lauren Bayne (John Fisken photos)

Lauren Bayne (John Fisken photos)

There’s more than one superstar in the Bayne house.

While older brother Josh gets a lot of the publicity, what with being the Olympic League MVP in football and all, it might be easy to forget that lil’ sis Lauren is no slouch herself in the sports world.

Basketball, soccer, track — toss an athletic event at her and the junior version of the Bayne Train can more than hold her own.

Zipping across the soccer pitch, or around the track oval, she’s got speed to burn and a positive attitude that will carry her far.

She’s also branching out these days and working as a sports paparazzi, snapping photos of her CHS fellow athletes.

As Lauren celebrates a birthday today, we want to send her best wishes.

Whatever sports route she takes over the next few years, I have no doubt she’ll be aces at it.

That’s just a family tradition, and one Lauren upholds quite gracefully.

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Gillian Crossley scored a pair of goals Sunday.

Gillian Crossley scored a pair of goals Sunday.

sean

Sean LeVine’s beard hits dangerous levels of growth in this surveillance photo.

Whidbey Islanders GU19 select soccer coach Sean LeVine has vowed not to shave or get a haircut until his team breaks its current losing streak.

To his wife Joline’s great disappointment, that day did not come Sunday.

“Now my wife is considering moving my bed to the couch. It doesn’t look good,” LeVine said with a laugh after the Islanders fell 5-2 at home in a game that was far more competitive than the score might sound.

Gillian Crossley tried to get the clippers fired up with an early goal, taking a “great through pass” from Hailey Erbe and banging the ball into the side of the net.

Unfortunately for those praying for a shaving, things got rougher from there, with the Islanders surrendering back-to-back goals on corner kicks.

“The sad part is that we’ve been scored on five times this season on corner kicks and we’ve put a lot of time in at practice on trying to correct this already,” LeVine said.

Three more unanswered goals dug a huge hole for the Islanders, though LeVine felt the Islanders played the second half “definitely looking like the more dangerous team.”

Crossley did her part, knocking in her second goal of the game on a “perfectly-placed shot” off of a chip from Vivien Valles, who was named the team’s Player of the Game for her “assist, several beautiful runs and her tenacity.”

The Islanders charged the net hard in the second half and created a number of chances, but couldn’t get another score before time ran out on them.

Even in a loss, one huge positive for Whidbey was the return to action of big-time players Paige Waterman and Jacalyn Hefflefinger.

Sidelined by injuries so far this season, Sunday’s action was their season debut.

Paige put in some quality time in her traditional role at right defender,” LeVine said. “Jacalyn displayed her old ways at striker for us today and had two great chances on goal, one of which was a half volley off a cross that she nailed, but it went straight to the keeper.”

Playing in front of an enthusiastic crowd (“We had a great fan base today and it was really great for the girls to have so much support”), the Islanders put in a ferocious effort, team-wide.

“This game was so good that despite the three-goal lead, everyone there would tell you that they expected us to catch up at any moment,” LeVine said. “Our conditioning is really good right now and we looked really good offensively today, but the ball just didn’t bounce our way.”

The Islanders return to action with a game at Bothell Saturday, Feb. 28.

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Kendra Warwick

Kendra Warwick scored a beauty of a goal Saturday.

They won the style battle. Just not the game.

Despite scoring much more impressive goals, the GU19 Whidbey Islanders select soccer squad couldn’t quite tally enough of them Saturday, eventually falling 3-2 to the visiting Bellevue Ravens.

When they did beat the Bellevue goaltender, the Islanders did it with panache.

On their first score, Micky LeVine, under a great deal of pressure, fed the ball flawlessly to Kendra Warwick, who was lurking in the middle of the field.

Blasting the ball like a laser, Warwick buried it into the side netting before the Raven goalie had a chance to blink.

Trailing 3-1, the Islanders pulled closer with another beautiful goal.

This time Lydia Peplinksi, pushing up the field from her right defender position, found a streaking Kenzie Perry, who flicked the ball out of the air and past a scrambling net-minder.

“They had one nice goal, but if we got style points for our goals, then we would have won for sure,” said Islander coach Sean LeVine.

While they played from behind most of the day, the Islanders were competitive and had moments of brilliance.

“This was a hard fought game and we almost pulled off the comeback,” LeVine said. “While this wasn’t our best game, our team played hard for a full 90 and I was convinced we were the better team.

“But, we made a few too many errors on both sides of the ball and they were able to capitalize on our defensive errors and we did not capitalize on theirs enough.”

When Whidbey returns to action in two weeks (it has a home game at Ft. Nugent Park on Sunday, Feb. 22), it will finally have a deeper roster.

After playing much of the early season with only 11 girls (sometimes less), the Islanders will welcome back two of their best players, Jacalyn Hefflefinger and Paige Waterman.

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