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Posts Tagged ‘Jacalyn Hefflefinger’

“Islanders forever!!”

Posted in Girls Soccer, GU19 Whidbey Islanders, tagged , , , , , on May 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Saturday was the final ride for Erin Rosenkranz and her GU19 Whidbey Islanders squad. (John Fisken photo)

Saturday was the final game together for Erin Rosenkranz and her GU19 Whidbey Islanders squad. (John Fisken photo)

Islanders forever. (Kali Barrio photo)

Islanders forever. (Kali Barrio photo)

David put the fear of God into Goliath.

Drawing its players from all three Whidbey Island high schools, the ever-scrappy GU19 Whidbey Islanders soccer squad has always been a success, win or loss.

Saturday, having gone further than ever before, the band of sisters made a final stand on the mainland, falling 1-0 to Seattle United NE in a hard-fought State Cup semifinal.

And while the loss ended the Islanders season, and brought an end to this version of the team, it failed to diminish what they have accomplished.

“I am very proud that this small team from Whidbey, who has no cuts and plays big city teams with paid coaches who cut several players in tryouts, could not only compete, but threaten to win it all!,” said coach Sean LeVine. “My only hope is that they have fond memories and valuable lessons to take.”

LeVine, along with those who helped him make the Coupeville/Oak Harbor/South Whidbey juggernaut possible, will look back on the past few years as a great success.

“Our GU19 Whidbey Islanders team is officially disbanded, but Islanders forever!,” he said. “Thanks to Scott Rosenkranz for being a great coach all these years and Sherry Pabona for being a great manager.

“Happy Mother’s Day to all the awesome, ultra-dedicated soccer moms!,” LeVine added. “Without them we’d have no team.”

Playing on a brutally warm field Saturday, the Islanders had to deal with a season-long issue — few, if any, subs.

“It was HOT on the field today, and with only one sub compared to their four, our superior conditioning did not help as much as it had,” LeVine said.

Seattle United poked in the game’s only goal at the 20 minute mark, when it stole a ball and sent a cross into “a poorly-marked player,” who hit from 10 yards out.

Whidbey had several chances to knot the game, but luck wasn’t on its side on this day.

On their best chance, Gillian Crossley beat a defender at the near post and laid the ball on the foot of Lydia Peplinski, but her shot narrowly missed.

With the heat sucking the life out of both teams, play slowed in the second half, but Seattle was able to control the flow of the game by “possessing the ball better than any team we’ve faced this season.”

The game capped a season in which LeVine’s roster changed radically as the season developed.

Coupeville’s Jenn Spark and Jacki Ginnings (“two of the best defenders in the league”) were lost to injuries right as the season kicked-off, two other players left the team unexpectedly, another moved out of the country, and the crush of senior year for many of the players was a constant tricky issue.

“Despite all that, we figured things out, improved as we went along, and went further in the state tournament than we ever have,” said a proud LeVine.

He got contributions from every one of his players, and enjoyed that it was a second family as much as a team.

LeVine’s thoughts on his players:

Alyssa Cross, Ayla Muller and Becca Pabona became our best center backs in Jenn and Jacki’s place and excelled this season. That is a very tough position and they are awesome for stepping in, improving, and excelling.

Erin Rosenkranz played a new position this season at left back, which if you know her playing style, you’d know that was weird. But she simply proved to be the best 1-on-1 defender we have, and she did consistently well.

Paige Waterman was missed at the beginning of the season, but despite her ankle injury, she came on strong and was our consistent right back the rest of the year.

Our top three goal scorers were Lydia, Gillian, and Micky (LeVine).

Lydia and “Jilly” are our youngest and they are going to do great things in the next couple years; I can’t wait to watch them play more.

Kendra Warwick was the axle of our wheels this season.

Nothing happened if she didn’t play a role; she is simply our most valuable asset, although Kenzie Perry may have an argument with her multiple shut-outs as keeper and her goal scoring prowess in very few field appearances. 

Vivien Valles, Micky and Bailee Olson are our work horses and blue collar workers.

While Jacalyn Hefflefinger, one of my favorite people, did not have her 10-goal season like last year, her work rate and sense of humor is the glue of the team. She is really loved by all.

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Five straight wins for red-hot Islanders!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, GU18 Whidbey Islanders, tagged , , , , on March 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Jacalyn Hefflefinger (right) has scored five goals in the last five games.

Jacalyn Hefflefinger (right) has scored five goals in her last five games.

Not even the refs can stop this team.

Despite “900 offsides calls,” the Whidbey Islanders GU18 select soccer team rolled to its fifth straight win Sunday afternoon, bouncing their hosts, Tracyton Velocity, 2-1 in a game that wasn’t remotely as close as the score might indicate.

Now 6-2 in league play, the Islanders got big goals from Jacalyn Hefflefinger and Bailee Olson, and would have netted more if over-eager refs hadn’t blown the whistle every three seconds.

It was Hefflefinger’s fifth goal in as many games, while Olson netted her first score as a member of the Islanders.

Whidbey used a superb bit of teamwork to grab its first goal.

Jenn Spark, the master of the corner kick, popped a ball to Paige Waterman, who laid it off to a rampaging Erin Rosenkranz.

Her shot on goal whacked a Velocity defender and bounced cleanly to Hefflefinger, who did what she does better than just about anyone on the pitch — put it in the back of the net while the goalie grasps at empty air.

Frustrated by Tracyton’s offsides trap, the Islanders turned it to their advantage on Olson’s goal.

Timing her run perfectly to keep the whistle dry in the ref’s mouth, she snared a beautifully placed pass from Hailey Erbe and crunched the ball past the diving keeper.

With a lead to hold, Whidbey goalie Kenzie Perry and her rugged band of defenders were fairly spotless, shutting Tracyton down.

“Our defense remains, easily, the best D in the league!,” said Islander coach Sean LeVine. “The D made one error today and they capitalized, which is a fluke! I’d be perfectly happy with one error per game.”

The Islanders, who sit just one point out of second place in league play, now host three straight home games at Ft. Nugent.

Whidbey plays twice next weekend — Saturday, Mar. 15 (12:30 kickoff) and Sunday, Mar. 16 (2 PM).

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Hefflefinger has the magic touch!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, GU18 Whidbey Islanders, tagged , , , , , on March 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Jacalyn Hefflefinger is en fuego on the soccer field.

Jacalyn Hefflefinger is en fuego on the soccer field.

Jacalyn Hefflefinger is a young woman on fire.

And yes, I could have gone for the easy “Hunger Games” reference there, but Hefflefinger is no mere girl. She’s a goal-scoring machine tearing apart soccer foes in a way even Katniss Everdeen would respect.

Saturday she threw down two more goals, giving her four in her last three games, to spark the Whidbey Islanders GU18 select squad to a thrilling come-from-behind 2-1 victory over host NSC Evolution in Bothell.

Trailing at the half, the Islanders started feeding Hefflefinger in the second half, and her golden leg put the boom down.

Jenn Spark set her up on a corner kick for the tying goal, while Micky “Two Fists” LeVine out-battled the Evolution keeper in the box, winning the ball and putting it on Hefflefinger’s foot for the win.

Islander coach Sean LeVine, basking in the afterglow of his team’s third straight win, praised his players left and right, starting with his unstoppable striker.

“WOW! I don’t recall having a player with a stat line like that (four goals in three games),” he said. “She has been outstanding this season, but the move to striker is paying off!

“The downside for Jac, is now we expect her to score, ha!,” LeVine added. “Just kidding, keep working hard, you are an inspiring player for our team!”

The soccer guru also sidestepped tradition and gave a player of the game nod to his own offspring.

“I almost never do this (one of the many down sides of being a coach’s kid), but Micky cannot be denied today!,” LeVine said. “She was on fire at right mid today! Especially second half, she just seemed to win the ball and have a positive play every time she was near it.

“She played from their box to our box and saved us at least twice when the ball found itself in our box with only her and a white jersey near it!,” he added. “Great job today, Micky! By the way, you’re my favorite player and I love you!”

Capping the day’s strong team-wide performance was a surprise yellow card handed out to mild-mannered Erin Rosenkranz. While it caught LeVine by surprise, he liked the chippiness it rewarded.

“Erin’s yellow card was another inspiring moment,” LeVine said. “I think we were all too shocked and confused to argue with the ref about that, but I’m pretty sure he got that wrong.

“Unless she’s been secretly hitting people all this time and just not getting caught!,” he added with a laugh. “Hmmm, we’ll have to keep an eye on her…”

The Islanders will try to stretch their win streak to four when they hit the road again for a Sunday morning game against ISC Arsenal at Skyline Community Fields.

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Islanders slap down punch-happy foes!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, GU18 Whidbey Islanders, tagged , , , , , on February 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Paige Waterman (far right) scored "the goal of the season, so far" Saturday to spark her team's 2-0 win. (Kalie Barrio photo)

  Paige Waterman (far right) scored “the goal of the season, so far” Saturday to spark her team’s 2-0 win. And yes, this photo is obviously not from this weekend — when snow threatened for much of the day. (Kali Barrio photo)

The other team threw punches, but the Whidbey Islanders GU18 select soccer squad landed the knockout Saturday.

Facing a rough-and-tumble rival in Seattle United Shoreline, the Islanders overcame having two of its players lit up and thrashed their hosts 2-0.

The win, coming against a team Whidbey had tied the previous two times out, was very satisfying for Islander coach Sean LeVine.

It might even make Kendra Warwick (punch to the face) and Tori Wellman (elbow to the solar plexus) a little happy, once they start breathing normally again.

“This team has become somewhat of a rival for us; both (previous) games were very, very physical and left our team with a desire for some payback!,” LeVine said. “I was not surprised by the outcome. Happy and extremely proud, yes, but not surprised.

“While it was a competitive match, we clearly dominated — most of the time.”

Playing with a full squad for only the second time this season, the Islanders controlled the flow on both sides of the field.

Keeper Kenzie Perry was her usual dazzling self, smoothly making 16 saves while playing behind a superb band of defenders.

“All of their shots came from distance in front of our defense and Kenzie did not have to work too hard,” LeVine said. “They had no chances from behind our stout defense.”

When they had the ball on the attack, Whidbey converted with style.

Paige Waterman threw down the “goal of the season, so far” smartly heading the ball into the net off of a crisp corner kick from Jenn Spark.

Jacalyn Hefflefinger also connected, punching in a shot inside the box on a set-up from Bailee Olson.

It was the second straight game Olson and Hefflefinger had teamed up for a goal.

“I think we have found a good striking duo, and I plan to continue that so long as we have a full team,” LeVine said. “These two combine speed, skill, and a healthy dose of scrappiness that make them very dangerous in the box!

“I owe Paige a coffee card! All I can say is WOW!!,” he added. “That is how you score with your head! Paigey was not going to be denied getting to that ball, as usual, but this time she found the ball squarely with her forehead directing it downward with pace, putting her whole upper body behind it (just as taught). Picture perfect goal!”

While he was happy with the play and effort of his roster from top to bottom, giving big props to Becca Pabona for her play on the back line, LeVine singled out defender Jacki Ginnings as his player of the game.

“She found her niche and comfort zone as a defender and has excelled in that spot,” LeVine said. “However, she excelled to the point that we see her as a player that can be dominant for our team in any position we put her in.

“Considering our team has had some trouble scoring, we decided to move Jacki’s dominance into an attacking midfield role. While she expressed some concerns about this move, she still stepped in and did it, and did it very well, as expected,” he added. “She may not have made the stat line, but her attack on the dribble put the ball into the box in the first 10 minutes of the game and created the opportunity for our strikers to score!”

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