Fife championship bid stalled by Sentinels

Photos by David Bruce Hardt

With the 2009 Nisqually League Cham-pionship – a championship the Fife boys soccer team had not won in 20 years – in sight, the Steilacoom team was the only thing standing in the way. As it turned out, the celebration would not be coming after this game, as Steilacoom came out on top, 4-1.

“When they went up by two, we tried to push everyone forward and that just seemed to make holes in our defense. They got goals from counter attacks. It wasn’t very good since it was our senior night. I wish we could have come out better, I think we came in a little overconfident, but we have another game left,” senior Joe Kyle said after the game.

The Trojans, 5-2-0 (8-3-0), were hot coming into this game, after a 7-0 victory against the Eatonville Cruisers. However, the Trojans would be facing the full-strength Steilacoom Sentinels, 6-1-0 (11-1-1).

Before the game, coach Tony Crudi had said, “This is going to be a really tough game. The Sentinels have to win this game to get a share of the league championship. We have played them twice so far, and we have won both. If they win this game they will be tied with us. However, we will go ahead because we have beaten them in head-to-head competition.”

In the first half, the Sentinels played aggressively, holding the mo-mentum. Seniors Sang Woo Lee and Cameron Andrews, with great defense, countered the early open-field breaks by hustling and cutting off the Sentinels in transition.

The first-half play resulted in no score, with senior goalkeeper Jose Magana being aggressive and adapting to the wind conditions.

“We just have to keep playing good defense and keep the ball on the other side of the field,” Magana said at the half.

But it wasn’t long before the Sentinels were on the attack in the second half. At 48:00 minutes, Taylor Caluwe received an up-field assist from Casey Woodruff, which resulted in a goal, and started the bleeding for the Trojans.

Both Taylor Caluwe and Lucas ended with two goals.

Lucas Morrow delivered with four assists, adding up to the victory for the Sentinels.

Kyle received a penalty kick for the Trojans, and scored their only goal of the game.

The Trojans still have a chance for that big celebration with a final (partial) game against Washington May 7, finishing a postponement.

The two teams will start 32 minutes deep into the game and Fife is leading, 2-0. If they can hold on, they will win that elusive league championship.

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