Champions crowned, awards dished up in youth soccer
Champions were crowned in the Center of Anna Maria Island youth soccer league for two age divisions Nov. 11, while individual awards were dished up at the league awards ceremony Nov. 13.
Most valuable players in the 8-10 division were Eric McDonald of West Coast Air Conditioning and Kiera Johnston of Miller Electric. West Coast AC’s Frankie Coleman was the defensive player of the season, while Reese Riley was named best goalie. And Jack Mattick was named tops in league sportsmanship.
Sugar Beach Digital’s Tyler Brewer won MVP among males in the 11-13 division, while Progressive Cabinetry’s Jackie Schlossberg was the female winner. Hagan Powers grabbed the defensive MVP, Chris Snyder and Adam Carlson shared goalie of the year awards and Lilah Bowers earned the sportsmanship award.
The championship games were somewhat anti-climatic with both division champs winning by comfortable margins.
West Coast Air Conditioning won the 8-10 division by short circuiting top-seeded Miller Electric by a 7-4 score.
WCAC quickly took a 2-0 lead over Miller thanks to Eric McDonald, who scored a goal in the second minute, followed bay with a free-kick goal three minutes later.
Miller Electric’s Anthony Nguyen stopped the bleeding momentarily in the ninth minute when he knocked in a rebound goal to cut the score to 2-1. Next up, Jack Mattick came through in the 14th minute with a goal to increase WCAC’s lead to 3-1 before an own goal by Miller Electric made the score 4-1 as the half came to a close.
Miller Electric showed why they were the top seed with some inspired play in the second half. Nguyen received a pass from Kendall Johnston in the fifth minute, but goalie Laila Yavalar came up with the save to preserve the West Coast lead.
Two minutes later, Nguyen got behind the defense, but Yavalar again was equal to the challenge, making the save.
After being under seige for the first nine minutes of the second half, Eric McDonald stole the ball in the midfield and beat three Miller defenders to score, giving West Coast a 5-1 lead.
Miller finally broke through in the 13th minute when Nguyen passed inside to Johnston, but WCAC defender Juliet Greene blocked her shot. Phillippe Baumgartner pounced on the rebound and knocked into the goal to cut the Miller deficit to 5-2.
Two minutes later, Nguyen finally got rewarded for his hustle, beating the West Coast defender to finish with a right-footed shot and pull Miller Electric to 5-3.
McDonald helped West Coast pad its lead in the 18th minute, when he got loose up the right side to cross the ball into the goal mouth. The Miller Electric goalie got a hand on the cross, but Frankie Coleman knocked in the rebound to increase the West Coast lead to 6-3.
Miller Electric came right back up the field to cut into the West Coast lead when Nguyen emerged to score from a scramble deep in the West Coast end, making it 6-4 with only five minutes left to play.
Eric McDonald closed the game out when he stole the ball midfield and took it down the throat of the Miller defense to pad the score at 7-4.
McDonald finished with four goals to lead West Coast Air Conditioning, which also received goals from Jack Mattick and Frankie Coleman in the victory.
Nguyen led Miller Electric in the loss with three goals, while Baumgartner added one.
The 11-13 championship game was a lesson in how Progressive Cabinetry earned top seed going into the playoffs. The passing of Gavin Johnston, Anthony Monetti and Jackie Schlossberg was too much for the Sugar Beach Digital defense, as Progressive rolled to a 6-2 victory.
Monetti gave Progressive a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute when he hit a corner kick that Schlossberg volleyed, but the ball boomeranged to Monetti, who hammered it home.
Johnston fed Monetti up the left side in the 12th minute and he did the rest, finishing with a nice left-footed shot for a 2-0 lead.
Schlossberg got loose up the right side in the 18th minute and hammered a shot from a tough angle. It was saved by goalie Chris Snyder, but the ball rebounded to Monetti, who hammered it for a 3-0 lead.
Sugar Beach’s best chance came late in the half when Brewer threw the ball into Ava Zink, but her header into the goal was saved by Progressive’s goalie, Adam Carlson.
The second half saw Progressive add to its lead in the third minute when a Monetti corner kick was volleyed into goal by Schlossberg for a 4-0 lead.
Schlossberg added to the Progressive lead in the 28th minute when she took a throw in, dribbled across the field and cut up the left side, where she found the far corner of the goal with a nice left-footed shot.
Desperate for offense, Sugar Beach pulled Snyder from the goal and put him on the field and it immediately paid dividends. Daniel Sentman punted the ball downfield and Snyder outran everyone to the ball and ripped a rocket from 20 yards to pull to within 5-1.
Two minutes later, Zink passed to Snyder up the right side and again he blistered a shot past Carlson to pull to within 5-2.
Progressive iced the game a minute later when Riley Baugh threw the ball into Schlossberg, who volleyed the ball with her knee into the goal for a 6-2 lead.
Sugar Beach had one last shot at scoring when Tyler Brewer got free up the right side, but Carlson made the save to close out the victory.
Monetti and Schlossberg finished with three goals each to lead the Progressive offensive attack, which received assists from Johnston and Baugh in the victory.
Key Royale golf news
The men got out for a couple of rounds of golf Nov. 9 at the Key Royale Club, starting with a nine hole, individual-low-net match in the morning. Bill Shuman fired a 5-under par 27 to take first place by one shot over Stephen Gerrard.
The afternoon saw another group put in a nine hole, modified-Stableford System round. Mike Gillie and Blake Ress both scored a plus-2 to tie for first place in the individual category, while the team of Gary Duncan, Lex Halakan, Fred Miller and Peter Solleveld combined on a plus-2 to win the team title.
Thirty-nine women took to the course Nov. 10 for a nine hole, low-net golf match in four flights.
Mary Lou Drier and Phyllis Roe both carded 1-over-par 33s to finish in a tie for first place in Flight A with Debbie Wohlers another shot back in second place.
Penny Williams fired a 4-under-par 28 to take first place in Flight B, two shots ahead of Helen Pollock.
Roxanne Koche’s 6-under-par 26 was the round of the day and gave her first place in Flight C. Terry Westby was alone in second place at 1-under-par 31 and Sue Wheeler finished in third place with a 34.
Janet Razze took first place in Flight D with a 5-under-par 27, six strokes ahead of Marty Clark and Jan Turner, who finished in a tie for second place.
The men were back on the course Nov. 12 for a nine-hole team scramble. The team of Bob Longworth, Scott Mitchell, Wayne Patterson and Ken Ricketts combined on a 5-under-par 27 to grab first place. Mike Gillie, John Holcomb, Larry Pippel and Dennis Schavey were one shot back in second place.
Horseshoe news
Three teams advanced from Nov. 11 pool play matches during horseshoe action at the Anna Maria City Hall horseshoe pits. The team of Neil Hennessey and Karl Thomas drew the lucky bye and watched as Herb Puryear and Adin Shank edged Bob Rowley and Dom Livedoti 21-19 to advance to the finals.
For the 88-year old Puryear, he proved a third time is a charm by avenging two previous losses in the finals, rolling to a 23-11 victory over Hennessey and Thomas.
Four teams advanced to the knockout stage during Nov. 14 action. Bob Palmer walked his way into the finals thanks to a 21-16 victory over Hank Huyghe and Dom Livedoti. Gary Howcroft and Bob Lee dismissed Adin Shank by a 25-8 score to advance to the finals. The finals were all Palmer, as he continued his walk by defeating Howcroft and Lee by a 21-6 score.
Play gets underway at 9 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday at the Anna Maria City Hall pits. Warmups begin at 8:45 a.m. followed by random team selection. There is no charge to play and everyone is welcome.