September 6th and 7th marked the opening weekend of soccer in Carlisle and 
delivered cool temperatures, plenty of sun and a lot of action.
“How can you NOT have a great weekend of soccer with nearly 200 players, their families and friends on the pitch,” said Mark True, Carlisle Soccer Club president. “While most of the other clubs suffered lower registration and a lot of flood damage, we grew a little over last fall and had to put our fields a little closer together than we’d like.
“We’re playing soccer again and having fun which is all that matters,” he added.
More than 50 gloved volunteers hit the Carlisle Soccer Complex on Saturday, September 6th to pull prickly sand burrs that popped up during the two weeks of hot, dry weather in August. More than 40 pounds of the plants were pulled with volunteers still working on getting the others. In the spring, the Club hopes to move onto the new section of the complex which has no sand burrs. It also plans to treat the field with herbicide to prevent the weed that thrives in hot, dry, sandy soil.
Game highlights:
Under 10 Division
It was a day of uncertainty for the U10 Tiger Hawks, an untested group who had never played a game together before this season. Could they come together as a team and be successful on their first game out? At the onset it seemed as though the Tiger Hawks were on the defensive. The Soccer West team kept the ball on the Carlisle half of the field and several shots on goal were taken before they put the first goal of the game into the back of the net.
The Tiger Hawks held it together though and finally began to step up. They stayed in their positions to conserve their energy but kept substituting a fresh midfielder to hustle the entire field to create scoring opportunities. Persistence paid off as Carlisle soon found an opening and scored to tie the game.
Minutes later, they scored again to go ahead, only to have Soccer West tie it up again.
On it went throughout the match, the Tiger Hawks scoring only to have Soccer West even it up. It was all tied up with five minutes left and the game could go either way. Carlisle had too much bench though, as they scored the winning goal on a breakaway by their fresh legged midfielder late in the game and took away a 5-4 opening day win.
The U10 girls Pink Panthers started their season on the road Saturday against Soccer West. This marks the team’s debut in the U10 division, and with it a new level of competition. The girls settled into play, and were able to maintain good team shape, allowing for many great passing and scoring opportunities.
Among the highlights was a successful lofted shot by Amber Kettering scoring above the goalie and into the top of the net, and two shots by Ceora LeClaire that easily found the far post. Goalies Natalie McCormick and Leonora James stepped into this new position on the team, both making great saves. Even though the game ended in a 6-6 tie the panthers out-performed their opponent overall. As the season progresses Coaches LeClaire and Reece predict great things from the team.
Under 12 Division
The U12 Roadrunners started their season-opening game at Johnston, passing the ball well and maintaining possession. Johnston scored the first goal, battling the ball away from goalie Jose Fuentes. They scored the second on a quick transition penetrating our defense to get a one-on-one with the goalie. Jose made six very nice saves to keep the Roadrunners in the game. Mason Mumm scored the first goal for the Roadrunners, hitting the far post from an assist by Andrew Pech. Halftime score: 1-2
In the second half the Carlisle started out strong pushing the ball up field, creating several scoring opportunities with quick transitions. Cody Woodruff (pictured) would use his speed to get by the Johnston defender and place the ball easily away from the goalie and into the back of the net. The assist would go to Grant Kelly. Johnston would answer back, however, taking thirteen shots on goalkeeper Luke Cooper. He would end up making eleven saves and only two made it by him. It was a very exiting start to the season. Final score: 2-4.
Under 14 Division
It was the re-match of the year in the U14 division. Northwest, the U12 girls division champs versus Carlisle’s u14 Krazy Kickers, the team that spoiled their perfect season last spring with a draw. This season, with the move up a division, the Kickers need to overcome challenges on several fronts. First: learning a new style of the game. Second: an ability to play an entire match with only one sub on the bench, compounded by the fact that the game would be longer in duration.
In the first half, Northwest scored at the 22nd minute of play after being shut down by goal keeper Taryn Smith and fullbacks Katie Clark, Hannah Jutting, Mik McCaughey and Katie Brown. The Kickers answered by putting on a full frontal assault on the Northwest goal. The result were three earned corner kicks and a drive from striker JoJo Haack into the penalty box only to be tripped on the play. In what appeared would be a penalty kick for the Kickers, the play was allowed to continue and the ball was picked up by the Northwest keeper at the collective sigh of their coaches.
In the second half, the Kickers moved defenders up to forwards and vice versa in a measure to keep the positions fresh. A move never tired by the Kickers before, they adapted and played an incredible game and at times looked more threatening than they did at first partly because of the new style of play up top and impenetrable defenses from our backs. Marissa Kephart suited up as the team’s keeper and collected any shots that managed to break through. Big Mak Curiel, Haley Gruber, and Grace Smith all received serious injuries during the match but all trudged onward to play, refusing to be substituted out.
The Kickers were on the verge of getting their tying goal. However, a move made by coach Paul Gruber to get Madison Polley and Taylor Piper back in on offense cost them their opportunity. "I was getting a little too impatient and thought the change would get the girls their goal, but Northwest scored in the middle of that transition with six minutes to play,” said Gruber after the match. “I should have allowed the girls to continue play as is." Northwest would score two more goals after knocking the wind out of Carlisle’s sails, winning the match 4-0.
Under 8 Division
The U8 Killer Cougars hit the pitch for the first time as an all-boys team. With the emphasis on maintaining their shape, the Cougars managed to move the ball with ease from the back line to the front forward throughout the game. Each Cougar, Jonathan Kamerick, Wyatt Kruse, Logan Niehaus, Samuel Overton, Carson True and Jack Wilson, managed to score at least one goal in their season opener.
The U8 Crazy Cats started their first game of the season a little slowly but soon came to life and played a great first game. Madison Darrah made several good moves and assists. Brilynn Jackson worked very hard to get the ball and stopped several shots on goal. Sara Langenfeld worked very well, scoring two goals and played great defense. An aggressive Josie Nordhagen made many good blocks and scored three goals. Baylee VanPtten showed nice ball control by cutting around the opposition to score two goals and assist on others. Keaton Walker demonstrated nice ball work by cutting around defenders scoring two goals. In all the Crazy Cats played very well for their first game as a team.
Under 7 Division
The U7 girls Cougars soccer team opened their season of play against the Thundercats, coached by Jen Rowray. The girls were ready to roll and started the game scoring the first goal of the match. The play was executed very well and was the result of nice runs made by Kennedy Preston and Jaycee Black. However, the girls would have to hone in on their defensive skills as the T-cats came back after learning their formation and held onto an offensive array that netted them no less than a half a dozen goals by the half. The Cougars held in there and started regaining their shape by the second half of the match and were able to put in a couple more goals of their own. Defensively, Sarah Mumm and Ashlynn Williams nailed the position down resisting the temptation to get caught up field too much. Midfielders Maren Judisch and Audrey Gruber did well to move the ball from one side of the field to the other getting the T-cats to run after the ball some. It was an impressive showing by the girls against a well-coached and classy team.