Emily Moss Designs finishes season with a win

ANNA MARIA – The adult co-ed soccer league played the last regular season games last week. Team Sato Real Estate is at the top of the rankings going into the first week of playoffs. As predicted, the Sato squad finished undefeated, beating team Slim’s Place 8-3 in the second game of the night.

Will Kretzmann’s hat trick, in addition to a single by Amy Ivin, helped Sato Real Estate win their seventh game. Shawn Markham and Greg Ross each put two into the net for the victorious team.

In addition to the eight goals scored on goalkeeper Tuna McCracken, the Sato offense took 17 shots that were saved by the Slim’s goalie. Points were scored for Slim’s Place by Race Arande and Connor Bystrom.

Slim’s Place started the season off strong, but injuries challenged the team. Finishing in the middle of the pack with Blalock Walters, Slim’s Place played Josh Sato’s team without substitutes – missing Jessica Williams and PJ Smargisso.

Each with a 3-3-1 record, Blalock Walters and Slim’s Place tied when they faced each other in week 4 action. It may come down to which team wants to win the championship the most, as facing each other in the playoffs looks to be inevitable.

Blalock Walters played the last game of the night last week against Servis First Bank. With the win, Servis clinched the second place spot going into the quarter final playoff games.

Both goalies, Robb Marshall and Osvaldo Cabello, were kept busy with five and six saves, respectively, but Marshall just could not stop the firing power of Servis First Bank.

Chris Klotz topped his team’s scoring ranks with three goals. Servis teammates Ugur Durmaz and Olaf Krause each had two points, while Yuri Pereira and Blair Schlossberg had solo goals.

The usual solid scoring Blalock Walters team only managed one point by Matthew Staggs. Had they been able to pull off the win, Blalock would have finished the regular season in third. Instead, the slow starting Emily Moss Designs earned their spot among the top three teams in the league.

Hopeful, the Sandbar team went into the first game of the night knowing their fate in the first playoff matchup to be played Thursday, Dec. 2. Finishing in the bottom seed, Sandbar faces Sato Real Estate in the first round of post season play.

The team’s 8-1 loss to Emily Moss Designs was not without moments of solid play. The solo goal by Tim Holly ignited the Sandbar team in the second half of the game, but the spark came too late in the game.

Connor Haughey led the Emily Moss Designs squad in the scoring category with five goals. Lindsey Styka put two soccer balls past the line for goals, with an assist to her name. Also with an assist, one of Kevin Roman’s strikes went past Sandbar goalie Jessica Ruekberg.

In the sixth and seventh positions in the league ranking, Beach Bums and The Gitt Team took to the pitch. A win would have given The Gitt Team the same regular season record as the Beach Bums squad.

Beach Bums’ offense was just too much for The Gitt Team defense and keepers Raul Loera and Edd Monzon. Monzon and Keith Mahoney each contributed to The Gitt Team’s scoring against goalkeeper Mark Long.

Long’s Beach Bums teammates solidly defeated their opponents with a hat trick by Miguel Ajoy, and three individual goals by Robert Fellowes, Selena Gonzalez and Cemal Duzgun.

Post-Thanksgiving play will resume with four of the eight teams moving on to the semifinals, each team taking the field with the eye on the prize to be claimed after the final game of the season on Thursday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. – the Paul “Ace” Hayward Cup.