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Produced & Maintained by Idaho Mountain Express, Box 1013, Ketchum, ID 83340-1013 
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Copyright © 2001 Express Publishing Inc.
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For the week of August 15 - 21, 2001

  Sports

The green, green 
grass of home

Lefty’s F.C. wins 25th annual Ketchum Classic soccer tournament


By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer

No post-game beer was ever colder, more refreshing or more deserving than the celebratory barley quaffed after Lefty’s F.C. won the Ketchum Classic men’s soccer tournament.

Lefty’s F.C. Dominic Conti cuts through traffic at the Ketchum Soccer Classic at Atkinson Park on Saturday. Conti scored twice against Seattle. Express photo by Willy Cook

Anchored by a commanding performance by goalie and Most Valuable Player Olin Glenne, Lefty’s F.C. compiled a 4-0 record to capture the 25th annual tilt at Atkinson Park, August 11-12.

"Everyone kicked ass," Glenne aptly observed.

They also took names.

With plotting and scheming worthy of soap opera divas, tournament organizers Kurt Funkhouser, Brian Enge and Glenne separated the 12-team field into four brackets.

The trio anticipated Lefty’s winning the A bracket and the Boise Blast winning the D, setting up a showdown in the semifinals. They also wanted to meet defending champion Park City, who knocked Ketchum out of last year’s tournament in the semifinals.

The plan worked perfectly.

"Usually things never turn out the way you want, but not this time," Funkhouser said. "There was a lot of revenge to be had."

And this year Ketchum had all the pieces to the puzzle. Dangerous forwards, two-way midfielders and stalwart defenders. Add to the mix a talented goalie and you have every ingredient for success.

"We have more talent than we have had forever," Enge remarked. "When we put it all together no one can stop us."

It’s one thing to play on a team. It’s completely another to be a team. But as the weekend progressed, outstanding individual effort melded into a menacing machine.

Lefty’s opened the tournament against F.C. Seattle Saturday morning.

With eight shots in the first half, Lefty’s powerful striker Dom Conti buried an untouchable left-footed shot in the upper right corner to give Ketchum a 1-0 advantage shortly before half-time.

In the second stanza, Seattle’s game plan of building from the back did not work in the face of Lefty’s relentless attack. With the middle of the field, staunchly controlled and relentlessly patrolled by its halfbacks, Ketchum’s offense shifted into high gear.

Enge ripped a shot off the sidebar and Conti’s offering just missed the crossbar.

The former Oregon State player notched his second goal by burying a rebound for a 2-0 lead. Shortly after that, halfback Baudi Radim forced a turnover which was gathered up by Brian Enge and served to Roman Rozmanek, who headed it in for a final 3-0 score.

"It was good to go out and score first," Enge said after the game. "We’ve been down first in the last four or five games."

Which is exactly what happened in its second game against Pocatello.

Flat-footed and watching the ball, Ketchum surrendered a score seven minutes into the contest. It would not happen again ¾ in the whole tournament.

Forced to the outside by a surprisingly scrappy Pocatello defense, Ketchum let loose with a barrage of shots from outside the box.

At 37 minutes, Conti collected a long cross from Funkhouser and had three steps in the box, which is two too many, and scored to tie the game 1-1.

Exactly a minute later, Stevie Fostvedt buried a penalty kick for a 2-1 lead.

Outshooting Pocatello 11-4 in the first half, Ketchum decimated them in the second by scoring twice in a volley of 18 shots (including four corner kicks) to Poky’s three.

John Carpenter twined a worm-burner by Funkhouser and John Gerdis bent in a corner kick for a 4-1 final.

Over in the D bracket, the Boise Blast was having an easy time with its opponents, defeating Forest of Salt Lake City 4-0 and Seattle United 5-2.

The Blast had gotten the best of Ketchum in two earlier meetings this summer, winning 3-1 and 2-1.

Sunday morning’s matchup was a war from the outset, and Glenne and the defense was seriously tested for the first time all weekend.

Early on, Boise looked like the stronger team, passing fluidly and winning the 50-50 balls. Glenne was forced to make a diving save on an intercepted ball, which was uncharacteristically misplayed back to him by Fostvedt.

Unflappable defender Craig Maxwell had a save of his own, clearing out a loose ball when Glenne was drawn out of the net.

Very slowly Lefty’s gained momentum. Fostvedt hit the sidebar, Radim’s shot was just over and a free kick by Funkhouser was a hair wide.

But 27 minutes into play, Funkhouser, who shoots and passes from a standstill better than anyone on the team, bent in a free kick on the shortside of big Boise goalie Steve Bilo.

With a minute remaining in the first half, John Andonian scored on a bouncing ball in the box for a 2-0 lead.

"It was a nice free kick," Bilo said. "The second goal was a garbage ball through the crowd."

Whatever works.

Boise had a golden opportunity in the second half. Robin Sarchett was red-carded and thrown out for dangerous play, and the Blast had a one-man advantage for the remaining 28 minutes.

Despite being forced into defensive mode, Lefty’s was still able to pressure the ball and cracked 10 shots to Boise’s nine, although the Blast finished with a 21-19 shot advantage.

Glenne kept up his end, making two superb saves on a point-blank bullet and the repeat fire. On the third crack, Maxwell cleared out the ball, which was dancing dangerously close to the goal line.

Bilo was busy as well, jamming Casey Frieder and Gerdis. But the 2-0 score held up and Ketchum moved on to the championship.

"It’s tough to beat these guys up here," Bilo said. "The ball didn’t bounce our way today. But you have to give credit where credit is due. They played a great game."

In the other semifinal, Park City upset Ogden 2-0, and in the championship match the Beehive State boys picked up where they left off, firing nine shots of which Glenne had to glove seven.

In contrast, Lefty’s was limited to two shots in the opening half by Conti and Funkhouser. There was a fire in the hills, but it hadn’t reached Ketchum’s belly ¾ yet.

Park City coach Bob Martin was upbeat at half-time.

"That was a great half," he told his team. "We got around the corners, and had some good chances. We can counter these guys."

Despite the enthusiasm, Lefty’s was the team that came out with the resolution to win.

The platoon defense of Dave Skillman, Rob Butterfield, Will Minerich, Matt Brinker, Maxwell and Frieder tightened up and allowed just three shots on goal and ¾ more importantly ¾ no rebound attempts. Glenne did his part to encourage that, coming out with his knees and temper both up.

But 16 minutes into the half, Gerdis took a corner kick. Conti jumped and leveled the screamer into the back of the net. Ketchum 1, Park City 0.

Utah had two serious chances on a wide-open net, but both attempts were over or just wide. The team was also given 10 free kicks in the second half, including one from 25 yards out with 15 seconds remaining, but could not convert and Ketchum triumphed 1-0.

"We knew it was going to take a real special effort to win the game, and we had to keep our intensity up," Funkhouser said. "It was not a pretty game. It was a dogfight."

Martin, whose team has lost 1-0 in three finals or semifinals this season, concurred, "We were very evenly matched. We had a lot of chances that we weren’t able to capitalize on. Olin did a great job. He’s one of the best goalies we face."

Glenne (27 saves in tournament) was definitely the deciding factor with 10 saves on 12 shots. Lefty’s only got off four shots the entire game and the Park City goalie saved two.

"It was the best I have played all summer," Glenne remarked. "It’s pretty hard when the ball keeps coming, but I had most of them covered. And anytime a goalie is good the credit has to go to his defense. My defense was just outstanding."

Also sporting flashy new yellow jerseys were Zack Latham, Mike Reed, Andrew Cesati and Ricardo Hildalgo.

The team is sponsored by Lefty’s Bar and Grill with help from Johnny G’s Subshack, K.B.’s Burritos, Schoffel and Sun Valley Insurance.


The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.