Sawtooth kickers put a cap on the season
At Bend Shootout in Oregon
Sawtooth United F.C. teams rounded out the regular season
at the Central Oregon Shootout soccer tournament in Bend last weekend.
The tournament attracted 98 teams from Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
"It’s a good tournament. A lot of the teams are pretty much our
level," Sawtooth FC coach Richard Whitelaw said.
"Plus there is a lot to do in Bend. We went go-cart racing, played
miniature golf, went to the arcade, the mall and went swimming. We will have to do that
again next year."
Victor Vandenberg’s U-15 boys finished second in their division,
falling in the final to a U-16 squad.
Jack Dies’ U-18 charges qualified for the consolation contest (third
place), but opted to drive home instead of waiting around for a 5 p.m. matchup and late
night eight-hour drive. The U-18’s were 2-1 and finished fourth.
Whitelaw’s U-13 boys placed fifth out of nine teams with a 2-2
record.
The U-11 boys, coached by Stewart Sonneland, ended 1-1-2 and placed third
in a field of six teams.
Summary of the Central Oregon Shootout:
U-18 boys
Sawtooth FC opened with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Redmond
Cosa.
Jason Southward had the hot foot with three goals. Graham Watanabe chipped
in one.
"We played very well. Aggressive, organized soccer. It was nice to
see," Dies said.
Southward stuffed another three goals in a 5-0 shutout of the Silver
Storm. Sawtooth United plugged in every goal during a frenetic 30-minute first half.
James Cordes (1 goal) took the opening kickoff and chipped a pass to Mike
Spaulding, who headed it in.
"We talked about getting up on a team early and it was nice to
do," Dies remarked.
The win gave SUFC the #1 ranking out of six teams and a date in the
semifinals against the Hood River Dynamos.
Hood River, a team which must be used to playing in the wind, capitalized
on the gusty conditions and dominated play in the opening stanza.
The Dynamos converted a penalty kick to take a 1-0 advantage, but Cordes
netted the equalizer two minutes before half-time.
Hood River plugged in its second goal to take a 2-1 lead with 25 minutes
remaining.
"We had a defensive lapse in the box," Dies explained. "The
combination of playing from a losing position and having 10 minutes less in the halves
then we are used to was tough. We were a little panicked."
Fourth-place Sawtooth had its chances, hitting the crossbar twice, but
ended up on the short end of a 2-1 score.
U-15 boys
Despite a three-week layoff from competition, the U-15 boys came out hot
against Redmond (Ore.) on Saturday.
A goal by Matt Ward gave SUFC a 1-0 advantage, but Redmond answered back
to tie the match.
Neither team could capitalize on its chances in the second half and the
game ended in a 1-1 tie.
‘We started out great and our three weeks off showed in the second
half," Vandenberg said. "We weren’t really in game shape."
After a first-round win by forfeit, Sawtooth United needed at least a 4-1
victory over Salem in the bracket semifinals to qualify for the championship contest.
They were off to a good start after Brandon Epp knocked in Marcus
Acker’s rebound off the crossbar.
A dubious call gave Salem a indirect free kick in the box, which they
converted to knot the score 1-1 in the first half.
Burned by the call, SUFC came out fired up in the second half and reeled
off two quick goals by Epp and Josh Sonneland to take a 3-1 lead.
George Linev hit the post on the final shot of the game, but time expired
before Sawtooth could punch in any more goals.
"We just came up a little short," Vandenberg said.
Tied with Redmond on goal-differential, the two teams went to the
tiebreaker—penalty kicks.
Sonneland, Acker and Epp converted their shots and goalie Zach Bloomfield
made a pair of key saves to move on to the final game.
Pitted against U-16 Kaiser Surge, Sawtooth fell 3-0.
"We were just a year younger, but it really made a difference in size
and speed. They were a couple of steps in front of us," Vandenberg said. "I was
really pleased with our team. It was a good weekend."
U-13 boys
Sawtooth United opened with a 2-0 loss to Bridel Mile of Portland. Man of
the Match went to midfielder Kristian Timmons.
Whitelaw’s squad bounced back with a 3-1 victory over Silver Falls.
Man of the Match was striker Tadeo Cruz with two goals. Shane Cordeau also found the back
of the net.
Unable to shake off the sandman, Sawtooth suffered a 5-0 loss to the
Medford Vipers early Sunday morning. Sweeper Cameron Minor got the Man of the Match nod.
Goals by Ted Dankanyin and Cruz lifted SUFC past the Stingers from Bend
2-0 for a fifth-place finish. Left back Reno Christino was Man of the Match. Austin McCann
was in goal for the shutout.
U-11 boys
Sawtooth ran into eventual tournament champ Bend Cosa in its opening
contest. Bend won 5-2. Man of the Match Max Kwok netted both goals.
Down 2-1 to Redmond with less than a minute to play, Travis Amick chipped
in an indirect free kick by Kwok (1 goal) to salvage a 2-2 tie. Amick was named Man of the
Match for his effort.
Despite playing what Sonneland called "some of their best soccer of
the season", SUFC fell to the Bend Scorpions 2-0.
"We strung together six, seven and eight passes a couple of
times," Sonneland said. Man of the Match went to Cory Rutkowski.
Sawtooth doubled down Hood River 4-2 for third place and their opening win
of the tournament.
Single scores were tallied by Taylor Sundali, George Hulbert, Jordan
Pritchett and Carl Jablonski. Ben Gourlay was Man of the Match.
The U-11 boys capped a 10-9-2 season with an awards banquet Saturday
night.
Most Improved went to Ross Falcone. Reid Pletcher was named Best Defender.
Caleb Sonneland was voted Most Inspirational. Most Valuable and Best Goal went to Max
Kwok.
"I feel so proud of them. Our record was against some of the best
teams we could find at our age level," Sonneland said. "They have some a long,
long way."
