It was a Wild week on the soccer field for South Whidbey’s girls.
Freshman midfielder Jenna Wild, who scored five goals over two games this week, put the Falcons atop the North Cascades Conference standings, a place few might have guessed they would take this season.
On Tuesday, the Falcons repaid then league-leading Sultan on their own field for a 2-1 loss earlier this season, taking the Turks out on a Wild goal during regulation play and by winning an overtime shootout. The victory was the Falcons’ first against Sultan in three years.
Then, as she did during a hat-trick performance against Lakewood last week, Wild broke loose against an unpredictable Lynden Christian for four goals in a 5-0 South Whidbey win.
Basking in the glow of a 9-2 record and a one-game advantage over three other NCC teams this week, Falcon coach Paul Arand said his team got a payoff on Wild’s ball control, speed and poise.
“You wrap that all together, and you’ve got goals,” he said.
Tuesday’s game was a showdown between two teams tied for the NCC lead. In a contest Arand called “furious,” the Falcons and Turks were nearly even, except for Wild’s go-ahead goal off an Amy Barrow rebound 15 minutes into the game. That was the difference until a Katie Brown goal for Sultan in the 75th minute forced two overtime periods.
The contest finally came down to a shootout. Falcons Natalie Schmidt, Wild, Katie Watson, and Rita Jones beat Sultan goalkeeper Molly Cramer, while only Turks Mara Potteiger and Erin Roesler were able to beat South Whidbey keeper Allyson Riggs.
Thursday saw the Falcons surge early in a game in front of a friendly crowd at Waterman Field. Wild scored in the fifth and 25th minutes before being called to the bench by her coach to sit out the remainder of the half.
But her kicking foot failed to cool. After halftime, Wild came back for goals in the 41st and 59th minutes to run the score up to 4-0. Falcon senior Kellie Horn finished the night with a goal in the 78th minute.
Riggs recorded a complete-game shutout in the contest.
Unlike in the Sultan game, where the Falcons barely outshot the Turks, South Whidbey had a 19-1 shot advantage against Lynden Christian. That was something none of the Falcon players or their coach could have predicted, since the Lyncs distinguished themselves earlier this season with wins against Sultan, Meridian and Blaine — all top-rated teams.
In junior varsity action, the Falcons continued to roll. On Tuesday, goals from Jessica Burgess and Kim Applebee secured a 2-1 victory. Then on Thursday, the team moved to 10-0 overall in a 3-1 home win over Ferndale. Providing offense were Britt Hansen, Burgess and Liz Jeffers. The team has not lost a game since last October, giving the JV Falcons a 14-game winning streak.
