Soccer team fights mud and Turks

Senior soccer players of the South Whidbey class of 2002 will always remember their last regular season home game of 2001.

For starters, it was cold — about 48 degrees. Then, there was the mud, big strips of it at midfield and along the sidelines.

Worst of all, the Falcons could not, for all the sliding around, score a goal against the visiting Sultan Turks.

Though the play and the number of shots on goal were about the same for both teams, the Turks took advantage of second-half opportunities to win the game 3-0. It was not a nice thing to do on South Whidbey’s senior recognition night.

Fielding fourth-year players Jennifer Barrow, Emily Bartlett, Lindsey Binford, Keasha Campbell, Jaci Gutzmer, Hannah McCabe, Kelsey Simmons and Deanne Waterman, the Falcons had the tools to win the game, but not the momentum. During the first half, the South Whidbey girls kept the 13-3 Turks at bay in a scoreless 40-minute period. Footing for both teams was sketchy at best and by the end of the half, about three falling slides per minute was the average for both teams.

In the second half, Turk scoring machine Heather Howard gave her team a lead, scoring two of Sultan’s three goals. South Whidbey assistant coach Mike Cotton said the Turks found openings his team could not.

“I believe that we played better than them,” he said.

In junior varsity action, the Falcons finished off a winning, 8-2-2 season with a 2-1 win over the Turks. Lindsey Barrett and Liz Jeffers scored goals for South Whidbey as the goalkeeping team of Ashley Cotton and Taryn Langlois protected the Falcon net. The team finishes the season having scored 39 goals while allowing only 11 goals to be scored against them.

With a North Cascades Conference record of 9-7, the Falcons play their first district playoff game against Nooksack Valley today at noon.

Originally scheduled for Waterman Field, the game will be moved to the lower field at the South Whidbey Community Park due to wet, cleat-damaged home turf.

If the Falcons win the game, they will play Meridian on the road on Tuesday.

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