Ranked 4th in Florida
by Ron Hillis
by Ron Hillis
The Bayside U17 boys’ soccer team, the Thunder, concluded the Fall portion of their 2008/09 season by defeating Pensacola Futbol Club 4-0 in the Championship of the Blue Angel Classic held Oct 11/12 at Brosnanhan Fields. This comes as a fitting end for the Thunder who, under Coach Ken McDonald, started the season as semi finalist in the premier division of the nationally recognized Atlanta Cup tournament. Enroute to the Blue Angel Championship the Thunder beat the PFC Blue squad 7-0 which featured seven players scoring and Josh Suelflow, a defensive stalwart, scoring his first goal with a perfectly timed header. The Thunder next tied the Gainesville Caimens 1-1 and then beat the Lakeview Thunder 2-1 in a penalty kick shootout with outstanding keeper play from Tyler Willets and shooting from Mitch Hagood, Diego Figueroa, Erik Mayfield and Max Gerke. Jack Shows headed in the tying goal from a Blake Trotter free kick that led to the overtime. Jack Shows also tied the game against the Caimens with a rebound goal off a blocked shot by their keeper. In the Championship the Thunder jumped out to an early 1-0 lead from a chip shot goal by Diego Figueroa off a Hunter Hillis throw in. Diego added two more first half scores with assists by Nick Green and from a series of well executed passes by Max Gerke and Danny Gibble. Mitch Hagood added the final score in the second half with a driving corner shot from another Hunter Hillis throw in. The Thunder has now won three of the last four PFC tournaments in their age group. The Thunder’s success is matched by Coach McDonald’s other team, the US Deaf Soccer Team, that recently finished in the final four of the World Cup Deaf games in Greece. The 2008/09 Thunder is composed of Diego Figueroa, Tyler Willets, Danny Gibble, Doug Overlade, Blake Trotter, Josh Suelflow, Hunter Hillis, Ryan Schuler, Steven Vernalli, Zach Woodson, Chance Winn, Mitch Hagood, Nick Green, Max Gerky, Jack Shows, Kenneth Collins, Jack Begley, and Erik Mayfield. The Thunder will resume club play in Feb 09.
