Missing a few starters, South Whidbey boys soccer managed to fill the roster gaps and defeat Granite Falls 3-0 on April 17.

The Falcons (7-2-0 Cascade Conference, 9-2-0 overall) built upon a 1-0 halftime lead and kept the Tigers out of the net.

“It was one of those nerve-wracking type games for a coach,” Falcon head coach Emerson “Skip” Robbins said.

South Whidbey, playing without one of its leading scorers, senior Kai da Rosa, lost another senior early in the match. Andy Zisette took a kick to his shin, which resulted in a yellow card warning for the offending Granite Falls player, and missed all but 10 minutes of the game.

From there, play continued to be physical. In Robbins’ opinion, it was unsafe.

“I can’t stand refs that don’t control the game,” he said.

Falcon senior Davin Kesler missed the game due to an illness.

The first goal was booted in by senior Kameron Donohoe. Robbins said he moved Donohoe up from midfielder to striker, leading to the goal on an assist from senior Jeff Meier.

Lucas Fulton, a junior, booted in the second goal in the second half.

Meier scored the third goal, his 18th of the season, on an assist from junior Lucas Leiberman.

South Whidbey hosted Archbishop Murphy (9-0 conference, 10-0 overall) on Tuesday, after The Record went to press. In their previous meeting, Robbins also criticized the officiating as being “unsafe” for his players in a 1-0 loss.

Ahead of the rematch, Robbins said he hoped his team would match the physicality brought to Waterman’s Field by the league-leading, undefeated Wildcats.