Lyncs slip past Falcons

"Aaron McCabe, in foreground, tracks the ball and a few Lynden Christian players on his way to clearing the ball from the South Whidbey zone early in Friday's loss to the Lyncs.Matt Johnson / staff photoResuming a rivalry that was still white hot after last year's district soccer playoffs, the Falcon boys soccer team wound up on the losing end of a drum-tight game Friday night when Lynden Christian came to town.Still smarting from a 1-0 playoff loss last May, the Lyncs pulled out a 1-0 win over the Falcons 74 minutes into the game when Lynden's Kyle VanAndel picked up the fourth touch from a corner kick in the South Whidbey end and sent the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Joe Gunn.The goal brought a sudden end to a game between two teams that were immovable objects in the midfield and on defense. Equally matched at every position, the two undefeated teams played a back-and-forth game for more than an hour. Falcon senior Aaron McCabe did much of the heavy work to keep his team out of trouble around its own net, clearing every Lynden drive that entered his defensive zone.For their part, the Lyncs shut down the Falcons' most prolific strikers - George Supang and Kevin Brink - keeping them at a distance from their goal.South Whidbey coach Mark Helpenstell said his boys played a cautious game against an unpredictable foe.I think we started out playing a pretty conservative game, he said.With the loss, the 5-1 Falcons drop into second place in the North Cascades Conference standings behind the 5-0 Lyncs. The two teams meet again April 28 at Lynden Christian in their second and final regular season contest. "

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