South Whidbey solidly spoiled Sultan’s boys soccer senior night with a 14-0 drubbing that included a possible school record Friday.
The Falcons continued their scoring onslaught from the past week. Seven different Falcons scored, with senior Andy Zisette recording five goals, believed by the Falcon coaches to be a school record. He also assisted on three scores.
“It was a very strange game,” said Falcon co-head coach Emerson “Skip” Robbins. “We really didn’t mean to run the score up.”
South Whidbey scored a handful of goals in the first 10 minutes and never let up in the 1A Cascade Conference finale. For all of the Falcons’ offensive prowess, the Turks (5-9-0 conference, 6-9-0 overall) fired off 11 shots on goal against South Whidbey. A pair of the shots required athletic saves from senior goalie Charley Stelling, who recorded his 11th shutout this season.
The Falcons’ defensive mantra has been to not allow a shot, and they’ve been good at it. To date, South Whidbey has allowed eight goals by opposing teams, five of which came from undefeated and league-leading Archbishop Murphy. Only the AMHS Wildcats have allowed fewer scores with four.
Playing without a pair of senior starters, South Whidbey made do with a patchwork and limited reserves. Only 13 players took the field as leading scorer Jeff Meier missed the match with an illness and senior midfielder Oliver Saunsaucie nursed a lingering foot injury on the sideline.
Even without some key components, the Falcons flourished and picked apart the Turks’ defense. In addition to Zisette’s career day, senior forward Kai da Rosa returned to form with four goals, ending a nine-game drought.
Lucas Leiberman, a junior, scored a pair of goals. Junior Lucas Fulton and seniors Kameron Donohoe, who also had three assists, and Anders Bergquist each scored a goal. Bergquist, who rarely plays beyond the center line, took a penalty kick that spun by the Turk goalie. Davin Kesler, a senior midfielder, had a pair of assists.
The victory solidly planted South Whidbey as the top 1A Cascade Conference team in the District 1 tournament. South Whidbey will again face Sultan at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 6 at South Whidbey High School, the final home match for the Falcon boys soccer team.
Win or lose, South Whidbey will play Saturday, May 9 at Sultan High School. No matter the outcome of that match, the Falcons will advance to the District 1/2 tournament also hosted by Sultan High School because state rules require the regional rounds to be played on artificial turf fields. Securing the top seed in District 1 would guarantee South Whidbey a spot in the 1A state tournament.
