Holiday Cup ‘oldsters’ highlight end of annual tournament
- Klas Stolpe
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Senior, classic and masters divisions provide entertainment for titles
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
Despite the heavy snowfall and responsibilities off the turf, athletes in the older divisions of the 33rd annual Holiday Cup Soccer Tournament made it to the championship finals Friday at the Dimond Park Field House, were senior, classics and masters champions were crowned.
In the senior division (out of high school through age 21), the teams’ rosters were low due to some returning college players heading back to campus, so Iced Out and Park The Sleigh shortened the field and scrimmaged with additional players for an exhilarating shot fest that produced a final score of 16-15 in favor of PTS but with both rosters exchanging players during the match. The score was kept for fun as it was a scrimmage between a bunch of local young adults who grew up together playing the game. Those playing included Mackenzie Olver, Mercedes Codero, Kai Ciambor, Addie Buss, Kean Buss, Darin Tingey, Natalie Travis, Milina Mazon and Gabe Cheng.
In what was deemed an all-time tournament “classic” final in the classic division (age 35 and up), the Santa’s Slayers defeated the Wet Bandits in a penalty shootout.
With top-notch offense and defense, especially in the keeper position, both teams would notch just one goal apiece. With 19 minutes remaining in the first half, Santa’s Slayers scored and with 10 minutes remaining in the first half the Wet Bandits scored off a corner kick. The second half remained scoreless despite numerous shots on both goals. The teams then played an eight-minute overtime period, but that too proved to be all action with no result.
In the penalty shootout, Wet Bandits shot first and were stopped and Santa’s Slayers scored on their first penalty kick. In the next shots, the Wet Bandits were blocked again, and Santa’s Slayers were not and went up 2-0 in the best of five kicks. Wet Bandits were blocked again in their third attempt, but were extended as Santa’s Slayers also were stopped. Wet Bandits would break into the scoring tally on their fourth kick, but Santa’s Slayers also scored for the 1-1 (3-1 PK) championship win.
The champion Santa’s Slayers included Philip Wheeler, Juan Orozco, Tyler Walling, Scott Bergmann, Anja Abbott, Genoa Mangusso, Field Russell, Curtis Perkins, Andrew Ready, Nicki McCoy and Ella Magallanes.
The Wet Bandits runner-ups included Dan Lesh, Kim Ledger, Misa Zinn, Rachelle Garrett, Tadao Garrett, Che Plang, Martin Morris, Janelle Palomino, Darren Snyder, Pete Schneider, Cindy Eriksen, Youlian Ninkov, Peter Hockstoeger, Kristen Kiesel and Phillip Subeldia.
After the match classic division player Mark Smith, 66, of the Nutcrackers was honored by tournament sponsor Marty McKeown for being the oldest player of this season’s tournament. One of the two original members of the Nutcrackers still playing (along with McKeown), Smith has been playing since the tournament was in the old Dzantik’i Henni Middle School.
Smith noted his play strategy over the years has been to “try and stay on your feet and you heckle the players instead of trying to outplay them.”
Smith said no Holiday Cup has stood out over all the others in excitement or family fun.
“I remember watching my kids in a few and that was very exciting,” Smith said of Juneau-Douglas High School sons Dominic (2008 grad) and Max (2011), who both played for the Crimson Bears. “They both went on and played in college and it was great watching them grow up and now we have a whole other generation of kids in the family that are playing now…The grandkid is just starting out, my nieces and nephews all played…like a lot of families here this is just a highlight of the season.”
Of the award Smith said, “You have to take it, when something is given to you like that. There is a pride in being the older one out there.”
In the final match of the tournament, the crafty masters division (age 22-35) showed another high skill level as the Chilkat Bandits defeated Eggnog And Nutmeg for the championship 2-1.
The Chilkat Bandits scored five minutes into action and that score would hold as their keeper kept the goalmouth clean. He would transition to the playing field in the second half and scored with 19 minutes left for a 2-0 lead. Eggnog And Nutmeg scored with 18 minutes left in the match to trail 2-1 and had two unobstructed attacks on goal: the first was a one-on-one between striker and keeper and the shot went wide, while the second was a shot that went over the crossbar. With just seconds remaining the last shot by the vanquished team powered so high it went through the netting and onto the running track above the turf and time expired.
The champion Chilkat Bandits included Alida Bus, Alex Newton, Cameron Mitchell, Courtney Preziosi, Jamaal Bailey, Courtney Beringer, Nathan Schroeder, Moira Meek, Monica Daugherty, Tasha Heumann, Samantha Wilson, Eli Wray, Ephraim Froehlich, Matt Greely, Sam Muse, Mickey Kenny and Ryan Walters.
The runner-up Eggnog And Nutmeg included Karli Scott, Brittany Wilderom, Chris Dillon, Colin Flynn, Judith Ament, Marissa Obrien, Bekka Ord, Robby Fisher, Will Hoover, Pat Race, Mike Janes, Henry Melville, Becca Cates, Kelly Cates, Isaac Stark, Dylan Proudfoot, Alex Konop, Charles Umana and Tobie Weston.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
