LOCAL TEAMS CONTINUE TO ENJOY SOCCER SUCCESS

Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports Editor

The Mighty Elks coed soccer team has bounced back from their early season defeat at the hands of Suzies by reeling off four straight wins, including a victory over a previously unbeaten team. After picking up 5-0 and 13-2 wins against lower-ranked opponents, the Mighty Elks prepared for two big showdowns. First up was a battle against first-place and undefeated Headshots FC. Missing goalie Brandon Boardman and player/coach Jeremy Lazzarra, the team got help from some newcomers to pull out the 7-3 victory. "This was a big win for our team," said Lazzarra. "We were really starting to gel as a team. Then I got hurt, and we didn't have Brandon, but the team really came together."

With the season drawing to a close, the Mighty Elks had another tough game this past Monday as they faced off against Mix Ups FC, a team they've played many times. Mix Ups came in 4-2 sitting in fourth place and could swap spots with the Mighty Elks with the win, but the Mighty Elks wanted no part of that. "We had our whole team there, minus myself, and we played well. We're hitting our groove," said Lazzarra. Replacing the injured player was former Mighty Elks player Collin Legge, who turned in a big game as the Mighty Elks won 11-2.

The winter session is winding down, and the Mighty Elks have two games left: next Monday against Pink Sox, then a post-Christmas rematch with Suzies, with the league title possibly on the line. "We know a lot of players on the Pink Sox so that should be interesting," said Lazzarra. "Alyssa (Powers) is on our team, they have Lacey (Powers), so the sisters obviously know each other. It should be interesting. . . .Suzies is a team we know plenty about. When we lost to them earlier, we played our worst game, but we've come together, that game is going to be a good one," Lazzarra said.

The Pink Sox team, made up of current Ichabod Crane athletes, started off this session 2-2, but since then they have gotten hot, winning three consecutive games. The first of those three wins was an upset victory over previously unbeaten Suzies. Pink Sox used an aggressive attack to stun the veteran team 4-2. After that win, Pink Sox stayed hot with two games against lower-ranked teams. In both of those games Pink Sox picked up 4-2 wins to put them 5-2, sitting just half a game out of first place with just one game remaining on their schedule, against the Mighty Elks.