Coupeville Sports

      The GU17 squad celebrates, little realizing that #1 fan Ethan Spark (far right, green hat) is photo bombing them. (Kali Barrio photo)

The Steel Curtain came to play.

Sparked by the stellar defensive play of its back line, the Whidbey Islanders GU17 select soccer squad fought to an impressive 0-0 tie against Seattle United SOUTH G’95 on the road Sunday.

The tie, the second in as many days for a squad depleted by injury and illness (they had one sub Sunday after having a completely empty bench a day before), left the Islanders at 1-2-3 on the season.

With both teams firing away at point-blank range, it was Islanders goalie Kenzie Perry and her support group (defenders Jennifer Spark, Jacki Ginnings, Paige Waterman and Alyssa Cross) who stepped up big-time. With Spark laying down beautiful slide tackles on anyone foolhardy enough to enter her territory, the unit was unbreakable.

“Good communication, good movement, great hustle, extremely aggressive and impenetrable once again,” said coach Sean LeVine as he prepared to flee the cold fog of Washington state for a vacation in sunny Cabo.

Before he departed, LeVine was impressed with the way his team hung in, despite still struggling to have a full roster.

“Despite having zero subs yesterday and only one today, the ladies held their own and did not give up,” LeVine said. “If we can hold teams to a draw on our tough days, then we ought to be a force when we are at full strength.”

The Islanders pushed the attack relentlessly in the second half, but couldn’t get a goal to fall. Erin Rosenkranz unloaded a point-blank shot that was snuffed, while Vivien Valles went low with a shot into the corner that the Seattle goalie managed to flick out of the net at the last second.

Along with his stout defense, LeVine also singled out the play of Kendra Warwick, who continues to be a multifaceted threat.

“Kendra continues to be a spark on this team with her speed, hustle, and tenacity,” LeVine said. “She creates a lot of chances for us.”

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   Becca Pabona (far right, blue coat) was smiling Saturday, as well, after she scored her team’s lone goal. (Kali Barrio photo)

It was iron woman soccer.

Playing minus four sick booters (Selena Medina, Ayla Muller, Emily Miesle and Cassie Neil) the Whidbey Islanders GU17 soccer squad had a painfully empty bench Saturday. Still, even without subs, they held their own and eked out a 1-1 tie with visiting Seattle United West.

Now 1-2-2 on the season, the Islanders were led by goalie Kenzie Perry, who played virtually flawlessly while pulling the entire 90 minutes in net. Whidbey coach Sean LeVine also singled out the commitment of Morgan Zylstra (“Played three different positions today and played them well! Great hustle!”) and gave the team’s hustle award to Erin Rosenkranz.

“She came back from her illness as a force!,” LeVine said. “Erin played all over the field today and did not appear to get tired. She played aggressive and refused to give up.”

Rosenkranz had a cross to Becca Pabona that came “a gnat’s toe” away from being poked into the back of the net, but Pabona hit pay dirt later when she hooked up with teammate Vivien Valles for their team’s lone score.

“Vivien scrapped her way into the box, leaving her victims shocked and weeping as she refused to let that ball out,” LeVine said.

Pabona finished with a half-volley, punching the ball past the flailing goalie.

LeVine came away satisfied with his team’s play, especially in light of the complete lack of firepower off the bench.

“Despite having zero substitutes today, they all played very hard and we still out-hustled and out-possessed them,” he said. “They fought through some pain and kept us in the game.”

The Islanders return to action with a game Sunday, Jan. 20, hopefully with more players available.

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“We can’t feel our legs!!” (Kali Barrio photos)

“My fingers are frozen this way!!”

If conditions were brutal Saturday, they were nearly unplayable Sunday.

Returning to the skating rink … uh … soccer field at Ft. Nugent, the Whidbey Islanders GU17 select soccer squad was barely able to play. After a tough 3-0 loss to Newport FC of Bellevue in the first of three State Cup tournament games, they might have wished they hadn’t.

Newport entered the game a huge favorite and did nothing to dispel that, pushing the action and notching two of their goals before halftime. The Islanders (1-2-1) changed up strategy in the second half, putting more attackers up front, but even then were unable to breach the visitors’ defense.

“I did expect that this team was going to be better than most teams we have faced and I was right,” said Islanders coach Sean LeVine. “They were bigger and older than 95% of our girls, but I also thought the ice rink we played on at Ft. Nugent would be an equalizer.”

Even getting the game started took a bit of time, as refs and coaches met and discussed postponing or cancelling the mid-winter game. For reasons that probably made little sense to fans who thought they were in Green Bay, the game went on.

“Field conditions were worse today than yesterday,” LeVine said. “The ground was very hard and slick. As the game went on, field conditions worsened as we witnessed more players sliding around.

“Field conditions are not the reason for the loss, though.”

Whidbey had scoring opportunities, but Newport escaped from harm’s way when Emily Miesle was tripped by the slick field as she went for one shot and Selena Medina crunched a second shot that was tipped over the bar at the last second by the goaltender.

LeVine singled out Jenn Spark for her play, which included a slide tackle on a speedy Newport player to save a one-on-one and a half volley, one touch shot off a throw in from Paige Waterman that just missed going in.

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