For the week of July 17 - 23, 2002

Lefty’s makes semi-finals at Park City

2-2 in top-level soccer tourney

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Top-flight competition and sweltering temperatures were the challenges for the Lefty’s F.C. men’s soccer team of Ketchum during a prestigious 12-team tournament in Park City (Utah) over the weekend.

Lefty’s goalkeeper Olin Glenne said, "The Park City tournament and our tournament are the best ones of the summer in our area. We went 2-2 and made the semi-finals. It was a strong tournament."

In Saturday’s pool play, Lefty’s played its worst game in a 4-3 opening-game loss to Logan (Utah). Lefty’s squandered a 3-1 lead then ran out of gas and fell apart at the end of the contest, Glenne said.

Lefty’s goal scorers were Josh Sonneland, Dom Conti and Mike Lafferty, a pickup who came over with Steve Fostvedt from Denver.

Top scorer Conti drew a red card and suffered an injury to his right foot on a tackle. It hindered his play for the rest of the weekend, Glenn said.

Later Saturday Lefty’s posted a 4-3 victory over Park City "B". Conti tallied a hat trick and Sonneland added a single goal as Lefty’s built a 4-1 lead and hung on for the win.

Sunday’s 2-0 Lefty’s triumph over defending tournament champion Team X-Cel (Weber State University) was the high water point of the tourney for the 15 Ketchum players.

"We got our act together and played real well. We dominated. Their keeper had to make about eight phenomenal saves. We just kept the pressure on them," said Glenne.

Lefty’s goal scorers were Will Meinrich and Joe Chiodo. The Ketchum team knew it could make the semi-finals with a win over Team X-Cel and it rose to the occasion.

In Sunday’s semi-finals Lefty’s dropped a 1-0 decision to International from Salt Lake City, an outstanding "A" league team. International went on to lose 1-0 in the championship game to Northern Utah Under-23, a 2001 national titlist.

"We played good defense but the Salt Lake team had 60% of the play," said Glenne. International scored midway through the second half on a through ball and a one-on-one.

Next for Lefty’s players is the Jackson Hole (Wyo.) Invitational tournament July 27-28. The annual Sun Valley Classic men’s tournament is set for Aug. 10-11 in Ketchum.

The Lefty’s men’s soccer team practices Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. on the lower field at Ketchum’s Atkinson Park.

 

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