For the week of July 30 - August 5, 2003

Lefty’s wins twice,
but falls OT to Moose

Jackson Hole men’s soccer

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Lefty’s FC, the men’s soccer team from Ketchum, traveled to compete in a big midsummer soccer tournament at Jackson, Wyo. this past weekend.

Unfortunately, Lefty’s lost 3-2 in overtime in a semi-final battle with the eventual tournament winner, the Jackson Hole Moose.

Now, after consecutive trips to Park City (Utah) and Jackson Hole during which Lefty’s went 2-1 on each occasion, the Ketchum men’s team is looking forward to its own tournament.

At Jackson Hole, Lefty’s started out strong, with a 4-0 win over Azteca from Salt Lake City, Utah. In an incredible display of soccer prowess, Dom Conti scored all four goals.

Lefty’s second game was against a team called Bad Manners, composed of mostly unpleasant men from Ogden, Utah.

Bad Manners beat Lefty’s earlier this summer at a tournament in Park City, so our boys were thirsty for revenge.

Everyone knew it would be a tough game, since Bad Manners players are big, fast, dirty, and whine a lot to the referee.

Spirits were down after Bad Manners scored first. But Kurt Funkhouser, Josh Stanek, and John Andonian all scored to seal a 3-1 win. Bad Manners blamed their loss on the ref, to no one’s surprise.

After assuring themselves the first seed in the semi-final, Lefty’s unwound at the Saturday night cookout with burgers, beer, and full contact whiffle ball.

(Due to recent negative and unfortunate interactions with law enforcement officers, the younger players struggled to comply with the "no beer" laws, and instead stretched, chewed gum, and traded baseball cards.)

Against Jackson in the semi-final on Sunday, Lefty’s scored five minutes into the game on a slick Andonian-to-John Campbell-to-Joe Chioto combination, demoralizing Jackson.

Jackson countered with two goals 25 minutes later and grabbed a 2-1 lead at the break.

A rousing, motivating half time talk by Funkhouser, an injured Dom Conti, and Olin Glenne featured construction criticism, and creative profanity.

It worked, as Lefty’s scored immediately, this time with Campbell hammering home a rebound off a direct kick from Funkhouser.

But Lefty’s failed to score again, probably because Conti was injured, and the game ended tied 2-3 after regulation.

A few minutes into sudden death, the ref whistled a foul against Lefty’s when two defenders collided with a fragile Jackson forward. Jackson scored on the ensuing direct kick, and the game was over.

Other players contributing to a solid showing in Jackson Hole were goalies Matt Patterson and Chatham Baker, defenders John Gerdis, Shaun Kelly, Josh Brown, Quinn Orb and Troy Ruckman, and midfielders Robin Sarchett, Stevie Fostvedt, Matt Brinker, and Roman Romanowski.

Lefty’s plays next at the Ketchum Classic, Aug. 8-9 at Atkinson Park. Teams from Washington, Montana, Utah, and Idaho will play.

 

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