Thunder, Storm win at GCI
U15 girls squad beats injury riddled U18 Hurricanes to win U18 title
BY JASON THOMPSON Gulf Breeze News jason@gulfbreezenews.com

Photo courtesy of Carrie Begley Thunder rolls to title The U15 Bayside Thunder defeated Tallahassee United 2-1 in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Invitational Sunday at Navarre. They are (front, from left): Blake Trotter, Eric Mayfield, Jack Begley, Jamie Schmidt, Diego Figueroa, Matt Shaeffer and Doug Overlade. Back (from left): Hayes Sperry, Cody Sholty, Tyler Willets, Jack Shows, Ryan Schuler, Hunter Hillis, Danny Gibble, Max Gerke and coach Fraga DaRosa. Not shown: Steven Vernali, Zack Woodson, Zack Miller and Josh Suelflow.

The Bayside Thunder and Bayside Storm, both U15 teams, won their age groups at last weekend's 24th Gulf Coast Invitational, sponsored by the Bayside Soccer Club.

The Thunder, a U15 boys team, defeated Tallahassee United 2-1 in the championship game at the Navarre Soccer Complex, while the Storm, a U15 girls team, beat the U18 Bayside Hurricanes 3-1 in their championship game Sunday at Tiger Point Park.

U15 Thunder

Diego Figueroa scored the gamewinner for the Thunder against Tallahassee United a minute before the second half water break. Tyler Willets had the assist and also scored the game's first goal off a feed by Max Gerke.

Photo courtesy of Fed Barona Still winnin' The U15 Bayside Storm, which includes several members of the Lady Dolphins' regional champion and state runner squad, won the U18 division of the Gulf Coast Invitational Sunday at Tiger Point Park. They are (front, from left): Carly Loehr, Anne Preston, Allegra Pekarek and Jenny Wells. Middle (from left): Brittany Hebert, Brynne Heatley, Kayli Hanke, Kristen Barona, Haley Gross and Alex Herman. Back (from left): Coach Eric Miles, Heather Haney and Madison Rodwell. Not shown: Bianca Takacs and Jessica Oram.

Figueroa also scored two goals in the Thunder's 5-0 win over the PFC Admirals Blue on Saturday. Willets had a goal and an assist, while Jack Shows and Eric Mayfield both scored a goal.

Jack Begley had an assist on Mayfield's goal.

Figueroa had a hat trick in the Thunder's 4-1 opening round win over the Destin Wave. Mayfield had the other goal, while Doug Overlade had an assist.

The Thunder scored the final three goals of the match. The tournament win was their second in the last three years at the GCI.

Jason Thompson/Gulf Breeze News Got my eye on you Stuart Parks volleys a ball during the U17 Breakers' match with the Destin Wave.

U15 Storm The Storm won their age group for the second straight year by beating the Hurricanes.

The two teams are no strangers to each other. A total of 23 girls between the two teams have worn the colors for Gulf Breeze High. Of those 23, 12 of them (six from each team) wore them on this year's 4A state runner up team.

Both squads were severely hobbled in the championship game, including three Lady Dolphin starters (Kim Begley - quad, Kathy Franklin - knee and Brittany Pyle - ankle) on the Hurricanes' side.

The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead when Katie Patterson finished off a free kick by Kristi Lee, both seniors on this year's GBHS team.

The Storm tied it at 1 when Carly Loehr, a Lady Dolphin freshman, scored. Madison Rodwell scored three minutes later to give the Storm the lead to stay.

Brittany Hebert, a GBHS junior varsity player, scored on a penalty kick in the final minutes.

The Storm rallied from two goals down in the second half to beat the U18 Destin Wave 3-2. Loehr scored the gamewinner with about 10 minutes left.

Alex Herman, a rising GBHS freshman, and Rodwell both scored in the win, with Rodwell's tying the game at 2-2.

Herman had a goal and an assist in the Storm's 4-1 win over Bay United. Rodwell, Loehr and Bianca Takacs all scored once, while Heather Haney, Jenny Wells and Kristen Barona all had assists.

Herman had two goals and two assists in the Storm's 8-0 opening round win over the Top of Florida Dragons.

Rodwell and Barona both had two goals and an assist, while Loehr had a goal and an assist. Jessica Oram had a goal, while Kayli Hanke, Brynne Heatley and Heather Haney all had assists.

Other members of the Storm who played on the varsity team at GBHS this year were Anne Preston, Wells, Barona, Haley Gross and Takacs. Five others - Heatley, Hanke, Hebert, Haney and Megan Eastburn - were on JV.

Begley, Patterson, Lee, Franklin, Pyle and Platt were all varsity players from the Hurricanes, while Sarah Randle, Lindsey Arnett, Lauren Fleming and Colleen Eastburn all played JV. Emily Brooks and Taylor Sansom are former Lady Dolphin JV players.

U18 Hurricanes

The Hurricanes made it to the final by defeating Bay United 2-1. Platt scored off a pass from Lee and set up a goal for Arnett - both goals coming in the first half.

Platt scored on a penalty kick in the Hurricanes' 2-1 win over the Wave. Patterson scored the game's first goal off a pass from Fleming as the Wave spoiled the shutout bid with five minutes left.

Platt scored two goals in a 4-0 win over the PFC U16 Blue team. Begley and Jessica Oram both assisted on Platt's goal, while Oram scored one of her own. Patterson also scored a goal off a pass from Lauren Fleming.

U17 Breakers

Bayside's U17 boys team lost in penalty kicks 4-3 to the Lafreniere (La.) Gamblers in a semifinal on Sunday.

Austin Santiago scored the lone goal for the Breakers, who were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation.

The Breakers got goals from Cody Williams, Leland Davis and Louis Hines as they beat the Destin Wave 3-0 - the same Wave team that would eventually win the tournament.

Chris Wilson and Williams both scored goals in the Breakers' 2-2 tie with Navarre United.

A total of 12 Breakers played on Bruce Savage's GBHS regional runner up team. They are Santiago, Williams, Davis, Wilson, Tommy Gibble, Richard Benson, Christian Mauldwin, Josh Pagonis, Stuart Parks, Jake Ceravolo, Brad Parrish and Kyle Losoya.