Lainey Stanfill leads Lady Sandites to 1-0 upset of Union

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

The 2022 Lady Sandite soccer season has been all about making history, and Tuesday’s 1-0 win against Union was no exception.

With under seven minutes left to play, freshman star Lainey Stanfill connected on her 20th goal of the season to knock off the perennial powerhouse RedHawks (10-5, 6-1) and lift the Sandites (11-4, 4-2) to a new program-best record.

“The Union game was something out of a movie,” said first-year head coach Cisco Chavez.

“Ava (Watts) took it from about half field, it bounced right in front of the keeper and went over. She tipped it out right to Lainey’s foot. Lainey put it in the net and the rest is history, kind of like our season. Just making history, historic moments, and we’re going to keep going.”

The game marked the first time this season the RedHawks have been shut out. Union has averaged more than four goals per game this year, led by University of Arkansas commit Makenzie Malham.

“Lockdown defense,” said Chavez. “We stopped the Gatorade Player of the Year from last year (Malham). They stuck to the assignment and they played well.”

The Sandites had an unfortunate end to the week in a 5-0 loss at Edmond North (11-1, 6-1) with a district title on the line. 

The day got off to a rocky start from the very beginning when the Sandites arrived late to the match due to a scheduling mixup. 

The teams had agreed three weeks prior to move the match up from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. to help the Huskies manage extensive Senior Night festivities between the girls’ and boys’ games. That change of schedule wasn’t documented on the Sandites’ end, however, and the girls had to go straight to action right off the bus.

To make matters worse, Katie Webb suffered a likely season-ending MCL sprain shortly into the first half, and the Sandites were on the receiving end of a 30 MPH headwind that made it nearly impossible to move the ball outside of their own box. 

“We haven’t had wind like this all year,” said Chavez. “First half, (Edmond North) came out, they put their chances away. Unfortunately, we couldn’t put it in the back of the net tonight, and that happens.”

The Huskies took a 4-0 lead into the half on goals by Ady Bechtel, Maddie Holub, Elle Schuppan, and Desi Abney. 

The Sandites played a far closer match in the second half but still only managed one shot on goal, with Leslie Miller recording the save. Julia McBride added the final goal of the night in the 52nd minute to put the match away.

Sophomore goalie Christina Thompson came away with seven saves in the contest.

“I’ll put this loss on me,” said Chavez. “This was mine for miscommunication with the other coaches. This loss was on me, not on the girls. We look forward to bouncing back and moving forward.”

Due to circular losses in a hotly contested district, the Sandites would have finished first with a win, but slipped to fourth with the loss. They will play the 6A-4 District Champions in the postseason, either Broken Arrow (10-1) or Owasso (14-0).

Sand Springs will wrap up the season Monday with a Senior Night district match against Putnam City (3-11, 0-6) at 6:00 p.m.

Boys

The Sandites (0-11, 0-6) fell by way of 10-0 mercy rule Tuesday against Union (10-5, 5-2) and lost 8-0 to Edmond North (9-3, 5-2) Friday night on the road. They will have one last shot at a win Monday at 8:00 p.m. when they host Putnam City (5-7, 2-3) on Senior Night. 

Lady Sandite Soccer enjoying winningest season in school history

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Ten wins down, seven to go.

The Charles Page High School girls’ soccer team reached ten wins for the first time in school history Friday night at Pioneer Stadium, beating Stillwater 2-0 in district action to improve to 10-3. 

In the post-game huddle, after getting doused by the team’s water bottles in celebration, a soaking wet Cisco Chavez had a simple request for his Lady Sandites. 

“Win out.”

A tall order for a program that has only sniffed the post season a few times in school history, but Chavez has insisted from the beginning of the season that this team has the potential to do something special.

“It’s a great feeling,” said Chavez. “I’m so proud of the girls and the coaching staff.”

The previous best mark for the Sandites was 9-6, first accomplished under Lucas Gray in 2010 and repeated by Bobby Behrens’s team in 2016. 

More important than the team’s ten wins overall is its 3-1 record in district play. The Sandites haven’t pulled off that feat since 2012, the last time they qualified for the postseason.

“I’m just proud,” said Chavez. “There’s no words. I’m emotional because these girls have been working hard through everything and I’m so proud of them. “It doesn’t matter who I call on, they all give me their everything.”

Sand Springs dominated the Pioneers (5-8, 2-3) offensively and spent 59 minutes of play on Stillwater’s half of the field. However, they had few shots on goal thanks to a stingy Stillwater defense.

The game remained scoreless until sophomore Ava Watts snuck in a lefty shot with only 56 seconds left in the half for her 16th goal of the year.

Stillwater opened the second half much more aggressively and Chrissen Harland broke through the Sandite backfield 12 minutes into the half to threaten an equalizer, but Christina Thompson made the save on Stillwater’s only shot on goal.

Freshman Lainey Stanfill connected on her 19th goal of the season in the 57th minute and nearly added another nine minutes later but put it just a hair over the top. 

The Sandites have now outscored their opponents 46 to 16 this season with six clean sheets. 

“We have an outstanding defense,” said Chavez. “We continue to tell them that they’re one of the best in the state. They’re one of the youngest in the state defensively. That D is really no joke.”

The Sandites’ schedule won’t get any easier in the coming week. Next up is a home battle with district leader Union (10-5, 5-0) on Tuesday before traveling to Edmond North (9-1, 4-1) on Thursday.

“We’ve got Union Tuesday, it’s going to be a really tough game. Hopefully we can pull out a victory and try to secure a home playoff game.”

Weekly sports roundup: Sandites win OBN fishing tournament at Lake Texoma

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Two teams of Sandites won first place in their divisions at the Oklahoma Bass Nation trail event on Lake Texoma, Sunday, April 3rd. 

Eli Rogers and Carrick Cooke won the high school division with five fish weighing 12.45 pounds for a $656 payout. 

Caden Strawn and Drew Turner won the youth division with four fish weighing 9.8 pounds. 

Softball

The No. 14 Sandite Slow Pitch team (5-7) went 0-3 this week, falling 13-10 to No. 4 Moore (11-5), 18-0 to No. 1 Southmoore (15-2), and 14-12 to Kellyville (5-12).

Soccer

District leader Jenks (6-1, 3-0) spoiled the Lady Sandites’ five-match win streak 4-0 on Tuesday but Sand Springs bounced back on Friday with a 9-0 road win against Choctaw (1-7, 0-3).

Freshman Lainey Stanfill scored five goals in the rout, and has 18 on the season. Ava Watts scored two, and Alyssa Cunningham and Karsen Lynch scored one each.

The Sandites (9-3, 2-1) are having their best season since 2016 and don’t show any signs of slowing down. They will host Putnam City (3-8, 0-3) on Tuesday before traveling to Stillwater (4-6, 1-1) on Friday.

The boys (0-8, 0-3) are still looking for their first win after falling 10-0 to Jenks and 3-1 to Choctaw. 

Track and Field

The Sandite track teams competed at the Jim Thorpe Invitational in Shawnee on Friday and crowned two champions. The boys took seventh place and the girls finished sixth.

Briona Searcy won the long jump with a mark of 14 ft. 11.5 in. and Jestin Rawlins won the discus throw with a distance of 147 ft. 

Gracie Gifford placed third in the 3200-meter run in 13:15.45 and sixth in the 1600 in 6:38.99.

Hannah George was fifth in the long jump at 13 ft. 3 in. Kelsi Hilton was fourth in the 3200 13:56.44. Brynley Smith finished fifth in the 400 in 1:12.05.

Dalton Wilcox placed second in the 800-meter run in 2:19.19. Noah Hanlon placed sixth in the 3200 in 11:45.99. 

Matthew Shelton placed third in shot put with a distance of 41 ft. 6 in. Alex Turner was fourth in discus with a distance of 105 ft. 1 in. 

The girls placed third in the 4x800 relay and fourth in the 4x100. The boys placed fifth in the 4x100 and fifth in the 4x800.

Layne Kirkendoll competed solo at the Jenks meet that morning and won the high jump at 5 ft. 6 in. She also placed second in long jump at 18 ft. 1 in.

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

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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.

Late Goal from Ava Watts Lifts Sandites to Tournament Title

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

On a brisk night at Colinsville’s Sallee Field, the Charles Page High School girls soccer team (6-2) found themselves all tied up with Oologah (4-3) in the Cardinal Classic finals.

With only three minutes left to play, sophomore forward Ava Watts found an opening and drilled the game-winner to lift her Sandites to a 2-1 win.

“I really didn’t want to go into PKs,” said Watts. “All I knew is that we needed to score because they had a better chance of winning in PKs than they did (in regulation).”

Oologah took the initial lead on a goal from Dallie Hill 14 minutes into the match, but freshman star Lainey Stanfill booted the equalizer on an assist from Watts seven minutes later. The next 36 minutes were scoreless for both teams.

“I’m really happy,” said Watts. “I think that we’re doing really good and if we keep it up we can make it to the playoffs.”

The Sandites got off to a 3-0 start on the season before falling 3-2 at Bartlesville (7-2) before spring break and 3-0 at Bixby (4-1) on Tuesday.

They got back on track with a 2-1 win over Durant (3-3) in the first round of the Cardinal Classic on Thursday, despite being severely shorthanded. 

“We’ve got a real beat-up team from previous weeks,” said head coach Cisco Chavez. “We had to use everybody tonight. We used all of our bench and everyone played their hearts out and we got it done.”

The Sandites started the season with 22 players but have lost seven to injuries, though only one is suspected to be season-ending. 

“Over the next few weeks we need to work on getting healthy,” said Chavez. “That’s number one. Number two, we just need to keep reminding them to play hard and leave it all out there every time they go out there because you never know when it’s going to be your last one because of injury or something like that.”

Stanfill scored the Sandites’ first goal against Durant and Alyssa Cunningham scored the game-winner on an assist from Ashlee Feigenbaum.

Watts scored two goals in the semifinal win over Collinsville (4-2), and recorded an assist on the opening goal from Stanfill.

Watts now leads the team with ten goals on the season, followed by Stanfill with eight.

“They make everyone better every day,” Chavez said of his two lead scorers. “They push everyone to the limit with their talent. Overall, just a great tournament by those two.”

Chavez is currently in his first season as full head coach, though he shared duties with Mathew Watkins last year as co-head coaches.

“It definitely feels like first year jitters for everything: tournaments, big games, things like that. I’m just really proud of the girls. If I had to describe this team in two words, it’d be ‘Sandite tough.’”

“They’re fun to watch. I’m really proud to be their coach. Really great job by them and we’ll keep moving forward and hopefully contend for the gold ball at the end of the year. The limit is whatever they set their bar to. Obviously the gold ball is what we’re looking forward to.”

Sand Springs will return to action Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with a non-district home game against Ponca City (0-5), followed by a district home game against Enid (4-4) on Friday.

“We’ve got our first district game against Enid next Friday night, which is our Family Fun Night,” said Chavez. “Kids get in free if they wear their soccer jersey. It should be fun. Moving forward we’ll get everyone healthy and we’ll keep competing.”

Sand Springs Weekly Sports Roundup: Lady Sandite Soccer Routs Muskogee 7-0

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This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.

Sand Springs Baseball (3-2, 0-2) hit a hiccup against the top-ranked Owasso Rams (7-0, 4-0) to start district action, falling 5-0 on Monday and 2-0 on Tuesday.

Oklahoma State commit Brennan Phillips tossed eight strikeouts and no walks against the Sandites on Monday, with Jacob Shields recording the Sandites’ only two hits. 

Jabe Schlehuber threw eight strikeouts for the Sandites on Tuesday and the Sandites combined for five hits but couldn’t bring anyone home. 

They got back in the win column on Thursday with a 7-1 win over Carl Albert (3-4) at the Owasso Festival. 

Jace Arnold surrendered only three hits over five innings while Ty Pennington went three-for-three at the plate with two runs and two RBI.

The Sandites had their Friday game against Berryhill canceled and will return to action Monday at the Best of the West tournament in Arizona.

Golf

The boys golf team competed at Muskogee on Monday and Skiatook on Wednesday. Mason Ward led the team with a score of 85 at each event. 

Muskogee (374): Mason Ward 85, Zane Downey 90, Seth Benton 96, Drew Paden 103, Cameron Villines 105.

Skiatook (346): Mason Ward 85, Zane Downey 86, Cameron Villines 87, Seth Benton 88, Drew Paden 97.

Soccer

The boys soccer team is still looking for its first win of the season after falling 3-2 Tuesday against Muskogee and Thursday at Bartlesville.

The Lady Sandites won a 7-0 rout of Muskogee led by a four-goal performance from Ava Watts and three assists from Karsen Lynch. Evelin Marino, Carson Sargent, and Alyssa Cunningham also scored goals, and Allie Wright and Kasandra Burgess also had assists.

On Thursday they suffered their first loss 3-2 in an injury-ridden trip to Bartlesville despite a two-goal effort from Stanfill with an assist from Watts.

The Sandites will take spring break off and return to action on the 22nd at Bixby.