For the week of June 20 - June 26, 2001

Lefty’s (26 goals) surges to Missoula soccer title

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Talk about a quick start!

Consider what the Lefty’s F.C. men’s soccer team accomplished in its first of four summer tournaments:

Five wins and 26 goals in five games last weekend at Missoula, Mt.

Opponents just couldn’t stop Lefty’s forward Dominic Conti (10 goals) during the 12-team Archie Robb Memorial soccer tournament.

And Conti had plenty of help.

Fifteen different Lefty’s players scored a goal or assist to give the Ketchum squad its first Missoula tournament championship since 1995. The defense allowed only four goals.

It was an awesome display.

"We’ve never been this solid, this early in the year," said Ketchum forward Kurt Funkhouser.

In preliminaries, Lefty’s defeated Missoula 7-1 and Missoula U-19 by a score of 4-1. The Ketchum kickers also posted a 4-1 victory over Butte.

A turning point was a 6-2 semi-final triumph over Northern Idaho United from Sandpoint. Lefty’s actually trailed 2-1 at the half, Funkhouser’s 40-yarder the only score.

Then, Conti kicked it into a higher gear. Funkhouser said, "With 15 minutes to go, Dom took over. He scored three quick goals—and we scored five in the last 15 minutes.

"Sandpoint was a good, solid team. We just had more substitutes and wore them down."
The championship game was a laugher, Conti scoring three more goals to lift Lefty’s over Spokane 5-0.

Ketchum’s last Missoula tournament victory came six years ago, when player/coach Richard Whitelaw and captain Jack Dies led the Idaho squad to a 4-0-1 log and 13-1 goal differential including a 4-0 win over Washington State Univ. in the final.

This year’s team doubled the number of goals with Conti, midfielder Brian Enge (3 goals, 2 assists), Funkhouser (3/2) and forward Robin Sarchett (4/1) leading the artillery.

Goalkeepers were Olin Glenne and Charlie Askew. Leading the defense was Craig Maxwell, the only player remaining from the 1995 Missoula championship squad.

Sponsors include Lefty’s Bar & Grill, Schoffel, Sun Valley Insurance, KB’s and Johnny G’s Subshack. Here’s a Missoula tourney summary:

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Preliminary games

Lefty’s 7, Missoula 1: Scoring—Enge (Conti); Funkhouser (Enge); Conti (Dave Skillman); Enge (Jason Southward); Conti (Glenne); Sarchett (Roman); and Bodie (Zach Latham).

Lefty’s 4, Missoula U-19 1: Conti (Southward); Conti (PK); Funkhouser; and Bodie (Roman).

Lefty’s 4, Butte 1: Sarchett (Matt Brinker); Glenne (John Andonian); Sarchett (Brinker); and Rob Butterfield (Andonian).

Lefty’s 6, Northern Idaho United 2: Funkhouser (Enge); Conti (Mike Stevens); Conti; Conti (Funkhouser); Nick Walker (Sarchett); and Sarchett.

Lefty’s 5, Spokane 0: Conti (Funkhouser); Conti (PK); Enge (Andonian); Conti; and Andonian (Latham).

Rounding out weekend scoring: Andonian 1/3, Bodie 2/0, Southward 0/2, Brinker 0/2, Latham 0/2, Roman 0/2, Glenne 1/1, Butterfield 1/0, Walker 1/0, Skillman 0/1 and Stevens 0/1. Other Lefty’s players are Casey Frieder, John Gerdis and Michael Bulls.

Weekly practices are Thursdays and Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m. on the lower field at Ketchum’s Atkinson Park. New players are welcome. For details call Funkhouser at 725-5973.

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