Coarsegold School wins jr. high soccer tournament

SPECIAL TO THE SIERRA STAR

KRISTINE ESCOTO/SIERRA STAR
Coarsegold School won the junior high soccer tourney, and they were undefeated in league competition.
Back row, left to right: Coach Rick Cano, David Simpson, Spencer McConnell, Robert Rainey, Josiah Stansbury, Austin Whitfield, Trent Ewert, Nick Birkel, Coach Josh Jones.
Front row left to right: Taylor Cano, Garrett Yoder, Bryce Simons, Jackson Glines, Chase Carter, Alexander Davis. Not pictured: Leighton Potter.

On Thursday, Jan. 29, the Mountain Area Jr. High Soccer Tournament was held at North Fork School. North Fork Coaches Cindy Swans and John Sommerville hosted a double elimination tourney featuring Oak Creek Intermediate, North Fork, Sierra View, Coarsegold, Rivergold and Wasuma schools. The hosts intended to run 11 games on two fields ending with the winner of the winner’s bracket facing the winner of the loser’s bracket in the championship game.

However, due to time constraints, not all games could he played. Games went from 20-minute halves to 10-minute halves to 0-minute halves. Consequently, tie games and games not played were decided in “shoot-outs,” game-deciding duels between a player shooting a ball 12 yards from the middle of the goal and an opposing goal keeper. Each coach selects five players who take turns with each of the opposing teams’ five players shooting on the other’s goalkeeper. Ties go to a single elimination second round of penalty kicks.

Coarsegold School, undefeated in league with only one goal scored on them all season, was one of the early favorites. One of their star defensive players, David Simpson, was sick with the flu and could not attend. Without him anchoring the defense, the coaching staff moved Austin Whitfield from center midfielder to David’s center fullback position, thus compromising the midfield. Taylor Cano, Chase Carter and Alexander Davis each took turns doing their best to fill Austin’s shoes.

In the first half of each of their first two games, the strategy seemed to work fine as Coarsegold jumped to 1-0 leads against Sierra View and North Fork with goals by Chase Carter and Bryce Simons. In the second half of each game, the scrappy opposition scored a tying goal. Each game ended in a tie and the first of at least five shoot-outs ensued. Coarsegold won their shoot-out with Sierra View in the second round, which was then sudden death, and then won a subsequent shuttle against North Fork. Wasuma beat OCI and was then the only other undefeated team besides Coarsegold. Thus, the winner’s bracket final, the tournament’s semi-final game, featured Wasuma vs. Coarsegold. Austin Barthree dominated midfield for Wasuma and Coarsegold narrowly missed shots-on-goal by Alexander Davis and Leighton Potter set up by deft passes from Taylor Cano and Jackson Glines. Tied 0-0, the teams went to a shoot-out. This was the third of what was to be four games decided by shoot-outs for the tourney. Wasuma then had to play the winner of the loser’s bracket for the right to play Coarsegold again.

Time was running out. Time for a shoot-out — OCI vs. Wasuma. OCI, which had lost two games earlier to Wasuma in a 3-2 slugfest, prevailed. That meant it was OCI vs. Coarsegold for the championship. Only one problem — the Oakhurst team had to leave and would have to forfeit unless Coarsegold would agree to yet another shoot-out. In their fourth shoot-out in four contests, Coarsegold’s coaching staff had arrived at the following cue of shooters: Taylor Cano, Austin Whitfield, Jackson Glines. Chase Carter and Josiah Stansbury replaced the injured Spencer ‘Dexter’ McConnell. In one shoot-out, Coarsegold made 4-of-4 penalty kicks. In the final shoot-out Taylor Cano made his easily, and it was 1-0 Coarsegold. Taylor “Slammin’ Sammy” Samora from OCI made his with authority, 1-1 tie. Austin Whitfield of Coarsegold calmly sent his shot low and to the right corner, 2-1 Coarsegold. The second OCI shooter missed. Jackson Glines from Coarsegold sent his shot into the upper left netting and it was 3-1 Coarsegold. Rainey stopped OCI’s third shooter. The OCI keeper then made a diving save to stop Coarsegold’s Chase Carter’s shot. Shooter No. 4 from OCI shot and Robert “Rainman” Rainey, the keeper from Coarsegold, made another of his many shoot-out saves of the day, some of which involved dramatic headlong dives. Coarsegold had a two goal lead and OCI had only one shooter left. Coarsegold, undefeated in tournament and undefeated in league, prevailed in the Shoot-out at the North Fork Corral.

The Coarsegold team included forwards Taylor Cano, Alexander Davis, Chase Carter and Leighton Potter; midfielders Trent Ewert and Garrett Yoder; stopper Nick Berkel; and fullbacks Spencer McConnell, Austin Whitfield, and Josiah Stansbury. The tournament MVP went to Robert Rainey for his stellar performance in goal. “The defense consistently stymied the opposition and provided the offense with the ball all year long,” said Co-Coach Josh Jones. He continued, “Our back line of Spencer McConnell, David Simpson and Josiah Stansbury was formidable. They’re big, fast and strong and play aggressively. They’re pretty intimidating. With Austin and Jackson dominating midfield and Taylor and Chase at forward we were pretty tough all season. Ewert is one heck of an unselfish player. Alexander, Bryce and Leighton always seem to be in the right place at the right time and Yoder plays with a heart the size of Texas. Berkel roams the field and, even though he plays defense, narrowly missed a shot-on-goal in the semifinal game against Wasuma. I gotta give Coach Cano some of the credit though, for foreseeing all these shoot-outs. He had the team practice penalty kicks in practice and before the tourney. I guess it paid off.”