Sandite Boys' Soccer season comes to an end at Deer Creek

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School Boys' Soccer Team (3-12) saw their season come to a close in Edmond Thursday night as they were handily defeated 7-0 by the defending State Champions, No.18 nationally ranked Deer Creek (12-1). 

The boys finished the season with the same number of wins as last year, plus two more losses. In 2015 the boys started 0-4 before they found their first win, but this year they pulled off an impressive 4-0 shutout of Muskogee in the second game of the season.

They lost five straight from there, but placed sixth in the Edison Green and White Tournament after freshman Ethan Baxter scored a hat trick in a 4-1 defeat of Regent Prep. The third win this season is the most important game to win for a Sandite. The Highway 97 Rivalry went to Sand Springs in a 2-1 overtime victory Tuesday night. 

The Antlers wasted no time in getting on the board as sophomore Chris Smirlis notched a goal less than three minutes into the game. The game was a shooting melee, but Sandite keeper Edgar Soberano was all over it, picking up seven saves on thirteen shots before allowing a goal with 13 minutes remaining in the half. The Sandites finally got off their first shot of the game in the 32nd minute, but it was no where close.

The Antlers added another goal for the 3-0 lead with a little over five minutes in the half, then scored a fourth with only 0:50 seconds left. With moments left, Alex Hernandez fired off the second shot of the half for the Sandites from thirty yards out, but sent it wide left as the clock expired. Deer Creek added a PK 16 minutes into the second half for the 5-0 advantage. Tucker Brown added the sixth goal of the evening with 21 minutes to play, and from there Deer Creek sent in the backups to finish the night. The Antlers scored on a free kick with 16 minutes left and the rest of the night consisted of driving back and forth with neither team making any really close runs.

Redistricting really hurt the boys this season, who actually played better than last season in many ways. The tough district included two nationally ranked teams in Deer Creek and Union. The boys' season opener was also to a nationally ranked team, though East Central wasn't a district game. The boys were far better than their record indicated, as demonstrated by the fact Union and East Central each only beat the Sandites by two goals. Seven of the losses this season were decided by two goals or less.

Baxter led the team in scoring with 5 goals, followed by Andrew Morrison with 3, Kaleb Brooks with 2, Alex Hernandez with 2, Cade Loomin with 1, Cody Gurley with 1, and Ignacio Garcia with 1. 

The team will be graduating seven this year: Brooks, Lazaro Franco, Dylan Lambert, Simon Hollekve, Dalton Lane, and Hunter Jacob.

This season's photo galleries can be found at https://sanditepride.smugmug.com/2016-Soccer

Lady Sandite Soccer season comes to an end at Deer Creek

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School Girls' Soccer Team (9-6) traveled to Edmond Thursday night for their season finale against Deer Creek High School (11-3) and fell 5-2 to cap a disappointing end to a season that started with lots of promise. 

The girls started the year with a bang, racking up a 3-1-1 record in preseason scrimmages, including winning the Stillwater preseason tournament. In the season-opener at East Central they dominated their opponents with a 10-0 mercy rule shutout in only 23 minutes. Over the course of the season they racked up six shutouts and a championship trophy at the Edison Green and White Tournament.

The girls' six-straight win streak came to an end with a 6-0 loss to Union, who is currently ranked number one in the nation with a 30-game win streak. They rebounded with a dominating 9-1 performance against Putnam City North, which saw Megan DeShazo score six goals. From there, however, they lost the final four of the season and failed to make the playoffs.

Things started out fairly close as Deer Creek held a 3-1 lead after the first half, with the lone Sandite goal coming from Kyndal Zicker.

DeShazo narrowed the gap to 3-2 on a penalty kick exactly four minutes into the second half, but Megan Neilson returned the favor seven minutes later for the two-point advantage. 

Oral Roberts University-signee Taylor Reed added to the lead on a high-sailing free kick from 27 yards out that sailed just over Sandite goalie Abigail Banks's head into the top right corner with 21 minutes to play.

With a 5-2 lead and 17 minutes left, the Lady Antlers pulled their starting lineup and sent in the second string. That evened things out quite a bit, but even the youngsters from an annual powerhouse like Deer Creek are above average players and the two teams were evenly matched for the duration and regulation expired before either team could score again. 

With the bulk of the ladies' wins coming against non-district foes, the girls settled for sixth in the district and failed to make the playoffs. Despite the heavy losses at the end of the season, the girls still outscored their opponents by an impressive 46-26 overall this season.

DeShazo led her team in scoring with 13 goals, followed by Zicker with 12, Kayla Foster with 10, Brooklyn Eardley with 9, and Kylie Taylor with 2.

Foster, who is signed to play with Missouri University of Science and Technology next season, led for much of the season, scoring two hat tricks in the first four games, but was sidelined for half a dozen games after sustaining an injury against Bixby. 

DeShazo, a junior, opened the season with a hat trick against East Central, and had the highest single-game performance for the girls with her six goals against Putnam North. 

The girls will be losing McKinzie Horton, Marissa Doll, Bryn Lewis, Taylor Coyle, Ashley Marino, and Alexis Slabby plus four players who are signed to play at the collegiate level. Eardley is headed to ORU, Kylee Cramer is headed to Oklahoma Baptist University, and Madison Dye will be playing for Northeastern State University. 

This season's soccer gallery can be found at https://sanditepride.smugmug.com/2016-Soccer

DeShazo dominates Putnam North with 6 goals, Lady Sandites win 9-1

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By: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director

The Charles Page High School girls soccer team (9-2) returned home to face Putnam City North High School (4-5) after a tough road loss. The Lady Sandites fell to the Union High School Lady Redskins (9-0) who are ranked #2 in the nation earlier this week, but rebounded with an impressive 9-1 victory over the Lady Panthers, their second highest win this season.

Sand Springs got things rolling quickly, scoring two goals in the first eight minutes en route to a 5-0 lead at the end of the first half. Junior Megan Deshazo got things started in the opening moments off of an assist from Kyndal Zicker. Deshazo scored the next two as well to notch a hat trick less than a quarter of the way into the game, one coming via penalty kick. Zicker got herself on the board after a free kick by Brooklyn Eardley ricocheted directly to her for a wide open shot. The Lady Panther goalie got a hand on it but not enough to stop the strike. Deshazo scored her fourth goal of the game just before the half on a misplay by the Lady Panther defense.  

The second half was nearly as lopsided as the first, though Lady Panther Courtney Tate managed to get her team on the board. Zicker and Eardley both scored for Sand Springs on penalty kicks, and Deshazo scored another two goals to put her total at an incredible six for the match.  

The back line for Charles Page was stifling, allowing just one shot on goal for the entire match. The line consisted of Jae Anthony-Wilson, Bryn Lewis, Emma Peak, and Mckinzie Horton. 

The Charles Page High School boys soccer team (2-9) came home for another tough matchup, this time against Putnam City North High School (7-4). Earlier in the week the Sandites battled hard against nationally ranked Union High School (9-1) but came up short. 

It was another hard fought nail biter for Garland Betts's team, as the match saw the visiting Panthers take an early one goal lead that they would not relinquish. Sand Springs made a number of solid runs downfield but were unable to come up with the equalizer. In the final minute Sandite of the Week Ethan Baxter dribbled deep into the box with a defender draped all over him, but couldn't manage to get the ball off of his cleat and the Sandites fell 1-0.  

Both teams will return to district play on April 12th, in Jenks. The Girls will play at 6 pm and the Boys at 8 pm. The Trojans are 2-4 and the Lady Trojans are 5-3. 

Ethan Baxter scores hat trick in 4-1 victory over Regent Prep

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Story and photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School boys soccer team (2-6) snapped a five-game losing streak with a dominating 4-1 performance against Regent Prep (0-4) in round two of the Edison Green and White Tournament Friday afternoon. Freshman Ethan Baxter scored the first hat trick of the season for the Sandites and Kaleb Brooks added the exclamation point in the moral victory.

Sand Springs took the lead early on in the eighth minute off a Baxter header. The Rams tried to get off a shot three minutes later but Sandite keeper Ethan Tippit was quick with the save to maintain the lead. 

Baxter was back at it again on the next Sandite drive and scored another goal exactly four minutes after his first, this time on a wide open shot at center. Simon Hollekve got in a close battle with the Regent keeper that looked more like a wrestling match than a soccer match, but ultimately the Ram got the ball scooped up for the save. 

Tippit was all over the ball whenever the Rams actually got shots off, which was rare, but he unfortunately wasn't expecting his own teammates to make a go at him and Regent got on the board off a wild own-goal nine minutes into the second half. 

The Sandites took a few wide shots throughout the second half, none very close, till Baxter completed his hat trick with 5:20 to play. 

The Rams only got off one close shot in the second half, a powerful kick by Mitchell Love, but he was no match for the eager arms of Tippit. 

Baxter finally let another Sandite in on the scoring action as Cade Loomin set up Brooks for a 4-1 lead with 1:50 to play.

Baxter leads the team in scoring now with 4 goals for the season, followed by Andrew Morrison with 3, Brooks with 2, and Alex Hernandez, Loomin, and Cody Gurley with 1 each. 

Sand Springs will play Saturday at 1:15 for fifth place in the tournament. Their opponent has not been decided yet. The Lady Sandites (7-1) will play in the tournament championship round Saturday at 6:30 against Edison (3-4).

Lady Sandite Soccer deal Booker T first loss of the season for third straight win

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Story by: Virgil Noah, Marketing Director
Photo by: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page and Booker T Washington girls soccer teams both entered the district opener with records well over .500 for the year. The Lady Hornets carried an undefeated record of 4-0 with them into Memorial Stadium to face the Lady Sandites who boasted a record of 4-1 on the season. The lone Sand Springs loss came at the hands of Metro Christian Academy by a score of 1-0, but Bobby Behrens's girls have gotten back on track beating Enid 5-0 and Bixby 2-1. 

Sand Springs took a major hit offensively coming in, as Senior captain and leading goal scorer Kayla Foster was unable to play due to injury. Foster has scored 7 goals in the first 5 games, including a pair of hat tricks. 

The Lady Hornets made a strong run at goal in the opening minute as Freshman forward Lauren Cousins played a ball in to fellow freshman midfielder McKenna Raley who took a shot that went just wide to the right of the goal. That would prove to be the only shot of the half for Booker T. as the two teams would simply trade possession for the remainder of the half. The Lady Sandites managed one shot midway through the opening 40 minutes, and it came on a Brooklyn Eardley free kick that sailed well over the top of the goal. 

Both teams seemed to really pick up the pace in the second half as they traded shots for the first 20 minutes with Sandite keeper Abigail Banks making a key stop on a shot by Cousins. Sand Springs finally found pay dirt in the 64th minute when Eardley collected a loose ball on the left sideline, cut past her defender towards goal, took a couple of touches and stroked a shot inside post past the keeper. Kyndal Zicker got in on the fun as the junior contributed with her 5th goal of the season coming in the 76th minute.  The Lady Hornets refused to give up though, as Cousins and the offense continued to press forward and get off shots, but Banks and the Sandite back line stood strong and completed the shutout. It was Banks's fourth clean sheet of the year and the girls's third straight victory. 

The victory moves the Sandite girls to 5-1 (1-0) and the Lady Hornets fall to 4-1 (0-1). Sand Springs will play this weekend, April 1-2 at the Edison tournament.