It's been a fast and furious start to the season and I apologize for this being the first post of the year. I will recap the first four games.
For the third year in a row we opened up our season with non league play against GSL foe University. This has traditionally been a one sided contest so we were happy to take a 1-0 lead into halftime from Sophomore Chandler Mertens first career varsity goal. In the second half the victory was sealed by first year player Javier Gamez. "Javi" burst onto the scene with a 30 yard left footed strike that found the upper corner. Brandon Hale earned his 17th career shutout for the suns and that makes him the all time career leader in that category.
The next day we played the defending league, district and regional champion Pasco. The game was a bit nervy and both teams had a few opportunities in the first half but after 40 minutes had been played it was a 0-0 game. Jarad Brisbin who played his first game of the year pounced on a Jake Zoulek rebound off the cross bar and made the score 1-0. It took ten minutes more for Brisbin to score his second this time off a set piece delivered by Keaton Hale. Pasco fought back and scored two goals. The game didn't end without controversy though. Pasco's first goal should have been called back after a player made contact and interfered with goalkeeper Brandon Hale. Then with three minutes remaining John Zoulek scored the game winner only to have it called back by the head referee.
The game was to be decided in a shootout and unfortunately the Suns came up on the losing end.
Our next game was against another GSL team in Central Valley who are supposed to be one of the top teams in Spokane. Jarad Brisbin opened the scoring in the 19th minute on another assist by Keaton Hale. The lead only lasted for five minutes when CV found the equaliser and the game went into the half 1-1. It only took six minutes before last years team leader in goals scored, sophomore Jake Zoulek found the back of the net for the first time this year. Another highlight of the game was Senior John Zoulek scored his first goal since his freshmen year. The last two years have been injury plagued for John but he never gave up his desire to play for Southridge and when Keaton Hale blasted a low free kick from 40 yards out John got a boot on the ball to cause a deflection that sent the keeper the wrong way. Brisbin wrapped up the scoring with his fourth goal in two games.
The following day Southridge traveled to Pasco to take on Chiawana and this game was interesting as it was the first match up of these two schools and also a match up of the two newest high schools in the area. The game got off to a fast start with four goals scored in the first 14 minutes. The good news was three of them were for Southridge as Jake Zoulek scored twice and Chandler Mertens scored once. John Zoulek wrapped up the first half scoring in the 40th minute and the Suns took a 4-1 lead into the break. Bill Landefeld scored his first goal of the year in the second half and Junior defender Conner Cravens scored his first career varsity goal. You could tell it was his first goal since his freshmen JV days by the celebration that ensued.
So to wrap it up the Suns are 3-1 to start the season and from here on out all the games count. We play at Sunnyside this Saturday and look forward to a tough match with the Grizzlies. This game has become a bit of a rivalry game with Sunnyside leading the all time series three wins to Southridge's two.
Here are the team leaders and where they stand in the league stats.
Jarad Brisbin, four goals 1st in the league.
Jake Zoulek, three goals tied for 2nd in the league.
John Zoulek, Chandler Mertens two goals each and tied for 3rd in the league.
Keaton Hale, four assists 1st in the league.
Bill Landefeld, three assists tied for 2nd in the league.
Jake Zoulek, two assists tied for 3rd in the league.
Brandon Hale has played 330 minutes in goal, posted one shutout and saved 26 times while conceding 5 goals.
Mar 22, 2010
Mar 1, 2010
2010 Season is officially here!
Practice starts tonight at 7:00 pm. We will practice Monday - Thursday from 7:00-9:00 and practice Friday will be from 3:00 to 5:00 at SHS. Make sure you have all your paperwork turned into the office and physicals have been performed. Remember if you miss one practice you are ineligible for the first game, miss two practices and you miss the two games. Please don't miss practice for any reasons!
See you tonight.
See you tonight.
Semi Finalist
Southridge will have five players represented at the US Youth Soccer Washington State Championships. The U16 Three Rivers United won their quarter final game 1-0 and will take on Crossfire in the semi finals next Saturday.
Jarad Brisbin's U18 Snohomish United won 4-0 and will play in a Saturday semi final as well.
Good luck guys!
Jarad Brisbin's U18 Snohomish United won 4-0 and will play in a Saturday semi final as well.
Good luck guys!
Feb 8, 2010
On To The Quarterfinals!
As expected Jarad Brisbin's Snohomish United went 3-0 in the group stage to win the group and book a spot in the state quarterfinals. United scored eight goals and didn't concede any. Next up for the senior captain is a 2/28 date with HPFC Heat who also went 3-0 in group play. Jarad's team did play HPFC in a tight match during the regular season, with Snohomish coming out of the road game with a 1-0 win.
Now on to the unexpected, good and bad. The Three Rivers United U16 team entered into a very tough group and managed a 1-1 road draw and an upset 1-0 home win. On Sunday the sophomore aged team found themselves in a pressure packed situation. With a win the group was theirs which also included a bye into the quarterfinals, a draw and they would advance to the knockout round, a loss and their season was most likely over. Jake Zoulek scored a goal to get his team the lead and it proved important as the match was tightly contested, there were goal scoring opportunities for both teams. In the final two minutes with United trying to conserve the victory Zoulek grabbed his second goal of the game to close out the match. United won 2-0 and finished unbeaten in their group with two wins and one draw. They scored four goals and only conceded one. Jake Zoulek scored three of the four goals. They will also play on 2/28 in a home quarterfinal match up with their opponent TBD.
Finally our U17 Celtic team was dealt a shock as they were in a three team bracket with teams they had beat 1-0 and 4-0 in regular season play, they were heavily favored to advance out of group play. After losing a 2-1 game to ECFC, they needed to beat a Crossfire "b" team. In an uncharacteristically high scoring game United lost 6-5 to end their season. The Southridge players were upset with some errors that were made in the game and dismayed at the call that led to a penalty kick that was scored against them which eventually decided the match.
So for five Southridge players the state cup dream lives on and for the other four they will start working hard to get themselves ready for the high school season that begins in three weeks.
Now on to the unexpected, good and bad. The Three Rivers United U16 team entered into a very tough group and managed a 1-1 road draw and an upset 1-0 home win. On Sunday the sophomore aged team found themselves in a pressure packed situation. With a win the group was theirs which also included a bye into the quarterfinals, a draw and they would advance to the knockout round, a loss and their season was most likely over. Jake Zoulek scored a goal to get his team the lead and it proved important as the match was tightly contested, there were goal scoring opportunities for both teams. In the final two minutes with United trying to conserve the victory Zoulek grabbed his second goal of the game to close out the match. United won 2-0 and finished unbeaten in their group with two wins and one draw. They scored four goals and only conceded one. Jake Zoulek scored three of the four goals. They will also play on 2/28 in a home quarterfinal match up with their opponent TBD.
Finally our U17 Celtic team was dealt a shock as they were in a three team bracket with teams they had beat 1-0 and 4-0 in regular season play, they were heavily favored to advance out of group play. After losing a 2-1 game to ECFC, they needed to beat a Crossfire "b" team. In an uncharacteristically high scoring game United lost 6-5 to end their season. The Southridge players were upset with some errors that were made in the game and dismayed at the call that led to a penalty kick that was scored against them which eventually decided the match.
So for five Southridge players the state cup dream lives on and for the other four they will start working hard to get themselves ready for the high school season that begins in three weeks.
Feb 1, 2010
Updates on State Cup
First of all I have to make a correction to my last post, I Should have known better than to trust WSYSA website without confirming the results. Jarad Brisbin's Snohomish United played their first game on Saturday against BFC and won 3-0. They also played Sun City yesterday and won 1-0. So they have pretty much locked up advancement to the knockout round and are playing Emerald City next week and will try to win their group.
The U17 Celtic team lost a close game to Emerald City 2-1. I spoke with the assistant coach of Emerald City (former Southridge and SU player Cam Mertens) and he told me the referee made two game changing decisions that both benefited Emerald City. The first was on a goal scored by an Emerald City player who was clearly in an offside position, but the goal was allowed. The second decision came when Celtic scored a goal off a loose ball in front of the keeper. The ref disallowed the goal because it was deemed that the keeper had possession at one point. So it was a tough result for Celtic although in the Tri-Cities we have become accustomed to not having a home field advantage in the refereeing department. Next up is a trip to the west side to play Crossfire. A win or possibly even a draw will be enough to see Celtic go through in this three team bracket.
The best result of the weekend had to be the U16 united team winning against PDL first divsion runner up Columbia Timbers. After stealing a result on the road last weekend United was faced with their toughest state cup challenge yet and were able to poke a ball home off a corner kick and hold on for a 1-0 win. The victory put united in the drivers seat where a win next weekend will give them first place in the group and an automatic berth to the quarter finals. A draw should be enough to get them into the knockout round, but a loss will bring the tiebreaker scenarios into play. They wrap up group play next week at Harbor FC.
The U17 Celtic team lost a close game to Emerald City 2-1. I spoke with the assistant coach of Emerald City (former Southridge and SU player Cam Mertens) and he told me the referee made two game changing decisions that both benefited Emerald City. The first was on a goal scored by an Emerald City player who was clearly in an offside position, but the goal was allowed. The second decision came when Celtic scored a goal off a loose ball in front of the keeper. The ref disallowed the goal because it was deemed that the keeper had possession at one point. So it was a tough result for Celtic although in the Tri-Cities we have become accustomed to not having a home field advantage in the refereeing department. Next up is a trip to the west side to play Crossfire. A win or possibly even a draw will be enough to see Celtic go through in this three team bracket.
The best result of the weekend had to be the U16 united team winning against PDL first divsion runner up Columbia Timbers. After stealing a result on the road last weekend United was faced with their toughest state cup challenge yet and were able to poke a ball home off a corner kick and hold on for a 1-0 win. The victory put united in the drivers seat where a win next weekend will give them first place in the group and an automatic berth to the quarter finals. A draw should be enough to get them into the knockout round, but a loss will bring the tiebreaker scenarios into play. They wrap up group play next week at Harbor FC.
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