Sammy Mendoza Shines in PK Shootout at Muskogee

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Sandite sophomore goalie Sammy Mendoza is making a name for himself as a top penalty kick defender, saving six tries over his first three matches of the season.

After notching three PK saves in an overtime shootout at Muskogee on Tuesday, he saved a regulation penalty kick against Metro Christian Thursday night to earn his first clean sheet in a 2-0 road upset.

“He’s a lockdown keeper when it comes to penalties,” says second-year head coach Brent Lollis. “He has earned his spot for sure.”

The Sandites are now 3-0 in the regular season after going 3-0-1 in preseason scrimmages.

On Tuesday they battled to a 1-1 draw against the Roughers (1-1) with Nathaniel McClaren scoring the lone goal in regulation before going to PKs for the second time.

McClaren, Elias Villanueva, and Nic Roberts found the back of the net for the Sandites while Mendoza recorded three saves for the win.

As a 4A playoff qualifier last season, Metro Christian (1-1) could make a case as the favorite to win Thursday night, but the Patriots were stifled by a stingy back four that only allowed four shots on goal, each of which was saved by Mendoza.

Elgin Hernandez gave his team the lead in the 8th minute, then McClaren scored a header off a corner kick from Zac Ritter with 10:13 left in the first half.

“It’s huge,” said Lollis. “We watched film on them so we knew some things we wanted to try and we got the two goals in the first half. As a coach, you’d like them to come out in the second half and get a couple more, so we’ll work on keeping our foot on the gas, but we’ll take a win.”

The Patriots nearly connected on a shot from Charlie Coffman late in the first half that traveled over Mendoza’s fingers, but it caught the crossbar and ricocheted clear.

They had another opportunity with a penalty kick from Brayden Haveman late in the match but Mendoza’s save preserved the shutout.”

“I don’t think they’ve reached their potential yet,” said Lollis. “I think they would tell you we have more to give. “

Girls

The Lady Sandites suffered their first loss of the year Thursday night after surrendering two goals in the opening minutes to last year’s 4A State Runners-Up.

Sydney Maddox, a Missouri-Kansas City signee, put her team on top just two minutes into the match. Sasha Redman added a second goal soon after and the remaining 75 minutes were scoreless for both teams.

“We started slow,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “We’ve got to come out faster.”

The Lady Sandites are short several starters, though most are expected to return to action after Spring Break. The exception being last year’s leading scorer, Lainey Stanfill, who will miss the season following an ACL surgery.

“Overall, we held them to two (goals) for 75 minutes so I’m happy with the result. The girls didn’t give up and they fought.”

The Lady Sandites out-shot the Patriots 17 to 9 but most were off-target and Berkely Seefeldt made six saves for the clean sheet.

“We’ve just got to find the back of the net,” said Chavez. “We’ve got to find more goal scorers. But overall, we’re on pace for everything. We’re dominating possession, we’re dominating shots - we’ve just got to find the back of the net.”

“This is a good Metro team and we knew coming into the game that this would be a very physical battle.”

On Tuesday the Sandites won a 4-1 battle at Muskogee (1-1) behind Ava Watts’s second hat trick of the season.

The Roughers took a 1-0 lead off a corner kick early in the match and held the lead till the final minutes of the half when Watts scored her first two goals. Alyssa Cunningham and Watts scored again in the second half.

The Sand Springs girls will return to action Thursday the 23rd when they look to defend their title as the reigning Collinsville tournament champions.

Sandite Soccer Sweeps Tulsa NOAH, Ava Watts Scores Hat Trick

After a promising preseason, the Charles Page High School soccer teams officially launched the 2023 regular season with a pair of wins against Tulsa NOAH Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

The Lady Sandites jumped out to an early lead and never looked back in a 6-2 triumph, while the boys battled to a 1-1 draw in regulation and secured the victory in a 4-2 overtime shootout.

The two teams are coming off very different paths from last season. The girls are looking to live up to and even surpass last year’s historic 12-5 campaign. The boys, meanwhile, are excited to have snapped a 13-match losing streak after going winless last season.

Ava Watts will be looked to as the Lady Sandites’ powerhouse scorer after totaling 16 goals in her sophomore campaign. She opened the season on the right foot with a hat trick against the Jaguars, her second of the week after scoring three goals in Tuesday’s Glenpool scrimmage as well.

“I’m really excited, really happy,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “Ava’s going to do huge things for our program and the program that she decides to play for in the future. But she’s really standing out this year and picking up the goals.”

Last year’s scoring leader Lainey Stanfill will, unfortunately, miss the season after a recent ACL surgery. The sophomore totalled 23 goals last year but is expected to be sidelined till August.

“I’m a little nervous right now; we picked up some more injuries,” said Chavez. “We definitely got hit by the injury bug this preseason.”

“We’re trying to get others some more minutes, trying to figure out formations and things like that, and we have a few people missing the next few games. It’s going to be challenging this year with all the injuries that we have, but we’re still excited.”

The Lady Sandites out-shot NOAH 19 to 10 and dominated the first half with a 2-0 lead on Watts’s first two goals.

The Jaguar offense came alive in the second half but the Sandites had plenty of answers.

Watts made it a hat trick in the 47th minute before Yophiyyah Fish connected on a free kick to make it 3-1. Just 33 seconds later, Avery Miller broke loose a quick score in transition.

Alyssa Cunningham put her team up 5-1 just 20 seconds later and Lauren Foster scored the Sandites’ final goal in the 52nd minute. NOAH’s Kinzie Doss had the final point but the teams went scoreless for the final 21 minutes.

The boys’ match was a defensive battle as the Sandites recorded 13 shots on goal, but Jaguar goalie Elijah Hafer made 12 saves.

“Super proud of these guys,” said head coach Brent Lollis. “They did endure a lot last season and they’ve worked really hard in the offseason and preseason.”

“This is essentially the same team. We had some seniors, but a lot of the guys that were on the field tonight are the ones that went through those experiences last year. They’ve all worked their tails off and every single one of them is better and they’re kind of getting the reward for a year and a half of hard work.”

The Sandites went undefeated in the preseason with three wins and one draw, beating Glenpool 3-0 on Tuesday. Brian Boyles, Elgin Hernandez, and Dawson Puckett scored one goal apiece in the final scrimmage.

Boyles had the lone goal against NOAH just five minutes into the match before Fisher Self tied it up two minutes into the second half.

“(Boyles) is our leading scorer so far this season and I think he also probably leads with assists,” said Lollis.

“He’s a key player, he’s a great player. He’s got a lot of soccer ahead of him. That was a great strike for that goal. He had some adversity last year and we didn’t have him all year. He’s been one of the leaders on the team and it’s great to have him back.”

After a scoreless 38 minutes to end regulation, the Sandites prevailed on a pair of overtime saves from Sammy Mendoza and successful penalty kicks from Nic Roberts, Zac Ritter, Nathaniel McClaren, and Boyles.

NOAH had answers for the Sandites’ first two kicks and saved Elias Villanueva’s try, putting the pressure on Mendoza. The sophomore came through to keep the score at 2-2, then put his team on top with another save after McClaren’s successful shot. Boyles secured the match to pay back last year’s 4-2 loss.

“With this team, the secret is going to be staying healthy and staying hungry. If they do that, the sky’s the limit for them.”

Both teams will return to action Tuesday at Muskogee before traveling to Metro Christian on Thursday.

Stanfill's hat trick leads Sandites to 6-0 Senior Night rout of Putnam City

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Charles Page High School soccer teams went in different directions this season, with the boys going winless while the girls are still enjoying their best season in program history.

The girls (12-4) ended the regular season with a 6-0 senior night rout of Putnam City (3-12) Monday at Memorial Stadium and will travel to Broken Arrow (11-1) Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. for the playoffs.

“Great ending to a great regular season,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “Moving forward…we’re done with the regular season. It’s out of our minds and we’re focused on postseason.”

The Lady Sandites haven’t made it to the playoffs since 2012 and likely haven’t won a playoff game since 1988, though records for the program are spotty at best.

While past successful teams have often been senior-loaded, this year’s unit is led by a lot of younger players, including freshman forward Lainey Stanfill, who scored a hat trick with two assists in Monday’s regular season finale.

Alyssa Cunningham scored the first goal of the game in the 18th minute on a second-effort kick after her first shot was smacked down by the goalie.

Stanfill had her first two shots on goal saved late in the first half and the Sandites only led 1-0 at halftime.

In the 52nd minute Stanfill juked past the Putnam goalie and tapped in a leftie layup to ignite a scoring frenzy from the home team. 

Karsen Lynch scored a header off a blocked shot from Stanfill three minutes later, then Stanfill drilled her second goal from 25 yards out in the 65th minute. 

Stanfill booted her 23rd goal of the season in the 70th minute, then freshman Ashlee Feigenbaum connected on her first goal of the year with four minutes left on an assist from Cunningham.

“Obviously Lainey’s had one heck of a season, but it’s really been this team,” said Chavez. “They’re something special. They all gel well, they all cheer each other on.”

“That last goal - we’ve been cheering for Ashlee to get her goal. She’s hit the crossbar so many times and she finally got it on Senior Night, so it’s a pretty cool ending. All the girls were happy for her.”

“This is a team that’s together, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

Moriah Literell recorded the clean sheet in the victory.

The boys suffered a 6-0 loss despite a seven-save effort from freshman goalie Eddie Hernandez. 

The game stayed scoreless till the final ten minutes of the first half, and the Sandites only trailed 2-0 at halftime before the Pirates got hot late in the second half.

“This was a rebuilding year from the beginning, and we knew that going in,” said first-year head coach Brent Lollis. “What we did this year was, we played the youngest 6A team in the state all season.”

“They’re essentially a team that got a full year of varsity experience that the other guys their age didn’t get. So building into next year, I think these boys are going to be better for the experience that they got this year.”

“They grew together, they did a lot of things that needed to happen at Sand Springs to build a program. They raised a bunch of money, they got new training equipment, they got new uniforms, they did a lot of things that are building blocks.”

“One of the things that I think it’s important for people to know is that the goal of our team here is to build a program at Sand Springs that can compete every year without relying on star players.”

Between matches, the Sandites celebrated seniors Alisa Gramm, Litterell, Lynch, Evelin Marino, Jade Patton, Jocelyn Sigala, Cassidy Tiepelman, Evan Bise, Ryan Clark, Justin Guynn, Shawn Hayes, Kyle Haynes, and Tyson Wright.

Sand Springs Sports Roundup: Lainey Stanfill scores 4 goals in 9-0 rout of Enid

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The Sand Springs girls soccer team (8-2) has won five straight games and opened district action with a bang on Friday, winning 9-0 against Enid (5-4).

Freshman star Lainey Stanfill scored four goals and Ava Watts scored a hat trick in the rout. Alyssa Cunningham and Carson Sargent also scored goals for the Sandites.

“Laynie’s having a standout year,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “No words to describe what I’m seeing from her.”

“We’ve got one of the best defenses in the state and we look to keep them healthy and just keep going forward. 

On Tuesday they won 1-0 against Ponca City, with Stanfill scoring the lone goal on an assist from Karsen Lynch. 

The boys soccer team (0-6) is still looking for its first win after falling 5-0 to both Ponca City (2-7) and Enid (7-2). 

“This is a very young team this year,” said head coach Brent Lollis. “We played eight freshmen during the course of that game.”

“We knew going into this year that it would be a rebuilding year. First-year coaching staff, graduated a lot of guys who are good college-level players, so this was about taking a step forward.”

“They were organized, they knew their matchup, and I told them in the locker room at halftime; that was the best they’ve played all season. These freshmen are getting some valuable experience that most 6A freshmen don’t get.”

One freshman in particular stole the show for the Sandites. Midfielder Eddie Hernandez made his first appearance at goalie and notched 15 saves as the aggressive Enid forwards kept him on his toes at all times. 

“He came in for our senior goalkeeper who’s having some health issues. And as I told him at halftime, he just played out of his mind. He led the team, made tons of saves, and kept us in the game the first half.”

Sandite soccer will return to action Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with district home matches against Jenks before traveling to Choctaw on Friday.

Fishing

Sandite duo Mack Taylor and Parker Haling took second place out of 81 teams at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event on Lake Texoma Saturday with five fish totaling 12.1 pounds. They also had the largest single fish of the tournament at 5.45 pounds.

Cruz Norris and Gunnar Casey took 23rd place with a 3.6-pound fish, and Nathaniel Griffin and Jaxon Trotter placed 26th with a 3.15-pound fish.

Golf

The Sandite golf teams competed at the Edison Invitational in Claremore last week, with the girls playing Heritage Hill on Tuesday and the boys on Thursday.

Gina Foster shot 111 and Madison Chambers shot 114 for the girls.

Mason Ward led the boys with an 82. Zane Downey shot 87, Cameron Villines 92, Seth Benton 93, and Drew Paden 97.

Slow Pitch Softball

The No. 16 Lady Sandites (5-4) won a 6-3 battle with Berryhill on Tuesday before going 2-2 at the Haskell Tournament on Thursday. They won 7-5 against No. 4 Jenks and 12-0 against McAlester before falling 13-5 to Ft. Gibson and 12-2 to Haskell.

Tennis

The Lady Sandite tennis team competed at the Skiatook Quad on Tuesday and won a Highway 97 rivalry dual with Sapulpa.

Abbie Dunn won in No. 2 Singles, Caitlin Shipman and Daffaney Snyder won No. 1 Doubles, and Jayden Smith and Gracie Young won No. 2 Doubles against Sapulpa.

Kira Shipley won her No. 1 Singles match against Skiatook, and Shipman and Snyder won their match against Bristow.

Track and Field

The girls track team placed 13th and the boys took 16th at Tahlequah on Friday with one champion. 

Jestin Rawlins won the boys discus throw with a mark of 143 ft. 9 in.

Layne Kirkendoll placed second in high jump with a mark of 5 ft. 2 in., and was fourth in long jump with a distance of 16 ft. 10 in.

Sand Springs Weekly Sports Roundup: Baseball Starts Season With Wins

This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Baseball

The Sandite baseball team is off to a strong start on the season, winning its first two games 11-0 against Shawnee and 9-2 against Yukon. 

Jabe Schlehuber and Kayden Campbell combined for eight strikeouts in a no-hitter against the Wolves in Friday’s season-opener. Dom Ornelas went three-for-three at the plate with a double and a home run for 5 RBI.

Schlehuber went four-for-four at the plate on Saturday with two doubles and a homer, and Ornelas and Keaton Campbell also hit home runs.

Boys Basketball

The Sandites wrapped up a 5-18 season with a 69-54 loss at Putnam City West in the Regional playoffs. Cale Askew scored 14 points, Ethan Oakley scored 12, and JD Dickson added 10.

Soccer

The Lady Sandite soccer team won its opening week of matches, coming back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to beat NOAH 4-3 on Tuesday before routing Coweta 5-1 on Thursday.

Karsen Lynch scored two goals, and Lauren Foster and Lainey Stanfill also scored against NOAH. Ava Watts posted a hat trick against Coweta and Stanfill scored twice. Christina Thompson got the wins at goalie.

The boys are still looking for their first win of the Brent Lollis era, falling 4-2 to NOAH and 2-0 to Coweta.

Golf

The boys golf team placed sixth at the Olive Wildcats Golf Classic in Sapulpa. Mason Ward shot 81 to tie for tenth, Seth Benton shot 87, Drew Paden 93, Zack Downey 93, Hunter Brenner 99, Sidney Horton 101, Jacob Halpain 116. Madison Chambers shot 114 as the lone Lady Sandite.

Tennis

The boys tennis team placed 16th at the Jenks tournament led by Connor Shipman with a 13th finish in #2 Singles.

Track and Field

The Sand Springs girls placed 10th and the boys took 15th at the season-opening Owasso Track Invitational.

Freshman star Lainey Stanfill placed fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.79 and was third in the 200 in 26.69. Jazmin Lopez paced fifth in the 800 in 2:33.38.

Bowling

The Sand Springs boys bowling team placed second at Regionals and third at State.

Girls Powerlifting

The girls powerlifting team placed second at the North Regional with Jaden Jordan winning squat, deadlift, and overall at heavyweight. Jordan squatted 335, deadlifted 380, and benched 155 to qualify for State. Madison Thompson placed fourth at 198 and Mikah Hampton placed fifth at 108 to qualify.