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| 14 Boys Champion, IMG United: Stephen Thomas, Chris Kuritz, Bryan Hopkins, Charlie Dye, Alex Wright, Kevin Harvey, John Voychik, Taran Pennebacker and Coach Scott Lindsey. |
Center's indoor soccer tourney champs crowned
by Kevin Cassidy
Islander Correspondent
And then there were four - champions that is. The 12th annual Anna Maria Island Community Center Holiday Indoor Soccer Tournament came to a close on Dec. 21 with champions being crowned in the U12 and U14 boys divisions. U12 and U10 girls’ winners were decided on Dec. 19.
Once again there was no shortage of fast-paced, end-to-end soccer action in the week-long tournament and, once again, there are no all-Island champions to celebrate. There were two championship teams that had some Island flavor in Stephen Thomas for IMG United and Joel Hart for the U12 Manatee Magic team. The U12 Islanders, featuring players like Trevor Bystrom, Jack Titsworth, Chandler Hardy, Paulo Fonseca, Kyle Crum and others, were a strong team, but they found themselves up against traveling teams from the Braden River and Manatee Magic soccer clubs that were just too strong.
In the end, it was another fun and successful week of indoor soccer at the Center. Congratulations to all of the players, parents and coaches from all of the teams that participated in the week-long tournament.
IMG United 9, Mash 2
IMG United swept through the U14 boys division, outscoring their opponents by a 48-7 margin in four games that were never even close. Mash - a Braden River team - kept it close in the championship game for a half, but they eventually succumbed to the more talented team. IMG held only a 4-2 halftime lead, but that quickly swelled to a 9-2 IMG victory when the final whistle blew.
Tournament MVP Kevin Harvey scored a hat trick to lead IMG, which also received three goals from Taran Pennebacker and two goals from Islander Stephen Thomas in the victory.
IMG defeated the Bangers, the Yams and Mash twice along the way to claim the championship trophy.
Manatee Magic 4, Mustangs 1
The U12 Manatee Magic - playing with no subs - defeated the Mustangs 4-1 to win its division of the Anna Maria Island Community Center’s indoor soccer tournament. Life-long Islander Joel "Rooney" Hart (hey, England is an Island, too,) was named tournament MVP in a vote by his teammates after scoring all four goals in a very competitive championship game.
The Magic defeated the Rage and the Patriots as well as twice defeating the Mustangs to win the trophy. The Mustangs advanced to the title game by defeating the Rage 6-0 after losing to the Magic 2-1 in the winner’s bracket finals.
Rage 14, Lemon Drops 0
The Braden River Rage stampeded over the Lemon Drops by a 14-0 score to win the U12 girls division tournament title. Hailey Martin was voted tournament MVP for overcoming an injury to participate in the tournament. Martin scored one goal in the title game to support Genna Biasetto, who scored seven goals in the final game. Fiona Morley added three goals, while Sarah Shields and Taylor Halligan each added two goals to the final total. Goalie Ashley Speaker allowed only two goals for the tournament while the dominant Rage scored 38 goals in three games.
Rage 5, Mini Hurricanes 0
The Braden River Rage proved to be too strong and powerful for the Mini Hurricanes in the U10 girls championship game as the Rage rolled to a 5-0 victory on Dec. 19 to take home the championship trophy. Olivia Ortiz led the Rage with two goals while Angelica Rigo, Gabby Areda and Megan Carr each added one goal.
The Rage defeated the Blue Dolphins once and the Mini Hurricanes twice to win the title.
The Mini Hurricanes battled the Rage hard in two games despite fielding a lineup of mostly U8 players defeated the Blue Dolphins 3-2 behind two goals from Hailey Smith and one goal from Jessica Shafer. Zoey Clark was named tournament MVP for her outstanding all-around play while teammates Hailey Coulter, Gillian Cassidy and Heather Gaunt were lauded for their aggressive play.
Key Royale Club news
Jean Tourt finished the Dec. 20 low-net women’s golf competition at the Key Royale Club with a four-under 28 to finish three shots ahead of Eunice Warda and five shots better than third-place finisher Margaret Schuller.
Flight AA gross winner was Penny Williams with a 41, while Joyce Brown shot a 45 to finish in second. Dorothy McKinna and Schuller each shot 47 to tie for first in Flight A, while Dolores Jorgensen’s 52 was one stroke better than Sally Keyes and Mary Miller in Flight B. Eunice Warda’s 49 earned her top honors in Flight C, three shots ahead of Markie Ksiazek, while Jean Tourt captured first place in Flight D with a 49, nine shots ahead of second-place finisher Teddy Morgan.
Weekly horseshoe report
Art Kingstad, the one-man walking team, defeated Debbie and Tom Rhodes to win the Dec. 17 horseshoe competition. Three teams advanced out of pool play with 3-0 records. Team Rhodes defeated Carole Watson and George McKay in the first playoff game.
After the game, the horseshoe players celebrated the holidays at the home of Cathy and Harry Stoltzfus. Bill Bartlett roasted everyone with a "Carnak the Magnificent" performance in which he answered questions before opening the sealed envelopes like the great Johnny Carson used to do on his late-night TV show.
Bartlett teamed up with Norm Good on Dec. 21 to capture the horseshoe competition by defeating Ron Pepka and Art Kingstad in the finals.
Play gets under way at 9 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday in the park behind Anna Maria City Hall. Warm ups begin at 8:45 a.m. followed by random team selection. There is no charge to play and everyone is welcome. |
