Jeffus brothers lead Sandite Soccer to first win of season 2-1 over Bixby

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School Boys' Soccer Team (1-1) notched their first win of the season Thursday night at Memorial Stadium, topping the Bixby Spartans (0-2) 2-1 in a non-district match.

Brothers Logan and Luke Jeffus scored the two goals for the Sandites and goalkeeper Edgar Soberano notched several impressive saves throughout the game.

SEE RELATED: Bixby Lady Spartans rout Sand Springs 5-0 at home

Logan Jeffus, a senior, notched the first goal of the game giving the Sandites their first lead of the season just three minutes into the match. The Spartans retaliated in the 26th minute on a twenty-yard boot by Miles Miller that shot just over Soberano's outstretched fingers into the very top of the net. Miller took another shot with five minutes left in the half, but it sailed wide left and the teams went into halftime all tied up.

The Spartans were extra hostile in the second half, pushing hard for the lead, but instead it was freshman Luke Jeffus with a header in the 52nd minute for the advantage. Spartan keeper Eli Trenary narrowly averted another Sandite goal in the 59th minute with a pair of impressive saves in a heated exchange deep in the box.

Gabe Jeffus, the third brother, never got the chance to score, playing as a defender. But the entire backline played solid defense throughout, leaving the Spartans with very few shots, none of which were uncontested.

Soberano was also hard at work in the final minutes as Bixby brought more pressure than they'd shown all game. But after several minutes in their own box, the Sandites finally broke free in the 77th minute and headed downfield where Logan Jeffus fired off another close shot that was just barely tipped out by Trenary.

The Sandites played a game of keep-away from there and ran the clock down for the 2-1 victory.

Sand Springs will take a week off for Spring Break before returning on the 23rd with a non-district home game against Muskogee (1-0).

Sandite Soccer falls 3-2 to Bartlesville in thriller shootout

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School Boys' Soccer team (0-1) may not have won their season opener against Bartlesville (1-0), but they gave the Bruins a run for their money.

Sand Springs is coming off a 3-12 season, compared to the Bruins' 10-5 performance last year, but the Sandites played with purpose to force overtime before falling in PKs.

The visiting team wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard with a goal from sophomore Brice Terronez less than two minutes into the game. With fourteen minutes left in the first half, Reese Hammon fired a pass to Quinton Palmer who hit paydirt for the 2-0 lead.

The second half belonged to the Sandites, who got on the scoreboard four minutes in with a goal from Alex Hernandez. Logan Jeffus added another point seven minutes later, and senior keeper Edgar Soberano pulled off a pair of impressive saves in the final minute to send the match to overtime PKs.

Freshman Luke Jeffus struck first in the shootout, giving the Sandites their first lead of the game. The Bruins missed their first shot, but the Sandites missed their second and Gabriel Ontiveros tied it up. Both teams made their third shots: Ignacio Garcia for the Sandites and Spencer White for the Bruins. Both teams also made their fourth shots: Gracen Taylor for Sand Springs, and Austin Stitt for Bartlesville. In the fifth round the Sandite missed his mark and Terronez recorded a brace for the Bruin victory.

In OSSAA play, the winner of the shootout adds one point to the regulation score, bringing the final total to 3-2.

The Sandites will return to action Friday with another non-district home game at 8:00 p.m., this time against Bixby (0-1). The Lady Sandite (0-1) match will precede the boys' at 6:00 p.m. Last year the Spartans topped the Sandites 2-0.

Goalie Edgar Soberano impresses in 2-1 double overtime loss to Westmoore

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

The Charles Page High School boys’ soccer team (2-11) broke a two-week scoring dry-spell against the Westmoore Jaguars (1-12) on Friday night Senior Night at Memorial Stadium. Alex Hernandez scored the first goal since the Edison Tournament to end a streak of four-straight shutouts.

Austin Morrison got off the first shot of the game in the first minute then Brandon Ong retaliated with a close shot just a few minutes later. Sophomore goalie Edgar Soberano was all over the ball all night long, snagging many incredible saves.

Jonah Nance also made some impressive saves for the Jags, including one on a shot by Simon Hollekve just three minutes into the game, and another jaw-dropper on a shot by Andrew Morrison. Hernandez finally got the boys on the board with 5:38 to go in the first half.

The second half was a slow-starter with the first close shot not coming till Hernandez sent one a hair wide twelve minutes into the period. Jovanny Hernandez netted the equalizer two minutes later and the Sandites began firing off shots left and right as the clock wound down.

Soberano was a superhuman in the final minutes, sliding feet first into a pointblank shot by Javier Aguilar then picking up two more astounding saves in the final 30 seconds to force overtime.

In the first overtime period Westmoore made the first big offensive push, but the Sandites rallied with all 11 men deep in the box to battle it out. Finally the Sandites broke free with the ball and made a quick drive downfield where Hernandez got a free kick that Nance swooped up.

Soberano added another save with 7:20 to go and sent the ball out to Kaleb Brooks who would take a shot with 6:00 left. The back and forth affair continued till Ong saw an opening with 1:34 remaining and swooped in. Soberano had just made a diving save on a shot by Bryce Wilmore but was unable to secure the ball. Ong scrambled and managed to edge a shot past the weary keeper for the win.

Sand Springs returns to action next Tuesday in a Highway 97 Rivalry matchup at Sapulpa (2-9) while the Jaguars will take on take on a tough Deer Creek team (11-1) Tuesday at home.

Jenks Trojans smother Sandite offense, boys fall 3-0

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

The Charles Page High School boys soccer team (2-10) hasn't ended up on the winning side of things very often this season, but no one can say they don't put forth effort. The Sandites lost another hard fought match, this time against Jenks High School (3-1-5) on the road by a final score of 3-0. 

The initial 17 minutes of first half action saw mostly possession battle, until a Trojan cross took a ricochet and midfielder Trace Gelso stroked a volley from 35 yards out to the left-upper-90 for a 1-0 lead. Sand Springs would attempt to push the ball for the remainder of the half but would only manage one shot, by Ignacio Garcia that curled just past the right post. Sandite goalkeeper Edgar Soberano made a number of impressive diving saves on shots and kept his team just one goal down headed into the intermission. 

Jenks extended its lead to two goals less than three minutes into the second half. Jack Deer took a touch off of a cross from the right sideline and shot the ball just past Soberano who dove a split second late. 

The Sandites had a pair of dangerous opportunities to score, but shots from Sam Short and Cody Gurley were both saved by the Trojan keeper's diving efforts. Jenks put the game away with 8 minutes remaining on Gelso's second goal of the match.  

The Sand Springs squads return to action with home games Friday evening against Westmoore High School. The girls kick off at 6 pm. and the boys at 8 pm. 

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. 

Sandite of the Week: Ethan Baxter

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By: Scott Emigh, Editor-in-Chief

This week Sandite Pride would like to recognize Charles Page High School freshman Ethan Baxter as Sandite of the Week for his outstanding performance at the Tulsa Edison Green and White Tournament this past weekend.

Baxter leads his team in scoring this season with four goals, three of them coming in a single game this weekend. His hat trick led his team to a 4-1 victory over Regent Prep to snap a five-game losing streak. 

He scored his first goal of the season in a 4-0 shutout of Muskogee in the opening week. He scored his first goal of the Regent game on a header less than 8 minutes into the game, then added his second exactly 4 minutes later. 

The Sandites are now 2-7 for the season and came in 6th of 8 teams in the Edison Tournament.

Sandite of the Week is a weekly recognition given to any one person with significant ties to the Sand Springs community who accomplishes remarkable achievements during the Sunday through Saturday week preceding the award. Prior achievements may be noted in the article, but do not bear direct influence on the selection committee which only considers prior week accomplishments. Candidates may be nominated by anyone by emailing SanditePrideNews@gmail.com. Bylaws prevent the giving of the award to anyone for two consecutive weeks, but any recipient may be nominated and awarded again in the future, so long as the weeks are not consecutive. Final selection is made by a majority vote of a three-person staff committee. 

Businesses or organizations seeking to sponsor the Sandite of the Week award may contact the above email for inquiries.