by Marty Zier

Sports contributor

Boys soccer

The Viking men (1-2) pulled off a comeback overtime victory for their first win of the season against the Lopez Lobos, 2-1, and later in the week lost to the Mt. Vernon Christian Hurricanes, 3-1.

Coach Terry Turner commented on the narrow win, “The fired up Lopez boys hosted us in the first match of the season between these long-time friendly rivals. Lopez scored the first goal in less than 10 minutes on a tremendous long range volley by mid-fielder Nick Zoerb. As usual, the Lopez team came out with intensity, fueled by the always raucous, enthusiastic home fans. The Viking men responded by doing their best to enforce their own control over the game, with tight defensive coverage and quick passing through the midfield by Levi Moss, Kellen Maier and Henry McMurray. The first half finished with Lopez leading 1-0, but with the momentum starting to shift to Orcas. Midway into the second half Orcas forward Geraldo Jimenez beat the Lopez defense on the dribble and scored to tie the game. Time ran down and went to sudden death overtime. Just a few minutes in, wing half-back McMurray put in the game winner.”

Later in the week, the Vikings faced Mt. Vernon Christian, previous state champions.

Turner said, “In the first half we maintained the majority of possession and pressured the Hurricanes. We repeatedly beat the MVC defenders to the ball with aggressive defending … However, 20 minutes into the second half the momentum shifted briefly with MVC scoring several goals in quick succession taking advantage of a couple of opportunities. Orcas finished the game attacking the Mount Vernon goal, but couldn’t put in the comeback points.”

After Friday Harbor, the Vikings play Grace Academy this week.

Girls soccer

The Lady Vikings started their season with a dramatic overtime league win against the Concrete Lions, 5-4. The Vikings knew immediately the game would be physical.

“The Concrete girls were bruisers,” said assistant coach Stephanie Shaw. “They were hitting our girls before we even got the ball.”

But the Vikings matched the physical challenge and led 1-0 at half. Early in the second period, during a play that more resembled a rugby match with players flying to the ground, the Lions evened the score on a short kick. The teams traded shoulder and elbow blows the rest of the game. After a scoreless overtime period, the game came to penalty kicks.

“Concrete pressured us very hard the entire game, and we did not fall apart,” said Head Coach Chris Doherty. “At the end of extra time, I was expecting Concrete to have strong penalty kicks, my fingers were crossed, but we have gotten better. We had a lot of missed scoring opportunities, but I saw growth in some of the younger players. It’s all about confidence, you have to keep playing the game to gain confidence.”

Thursday was a different Viking team that lost to the La Conner Braves, 8-0.

“It was a washout. The Ladies were totally out of sync,” Doherty said. “We seemed to forget all the preparation details and the game reflected that. The Braves cut through our midfield like we weren’t there and our defense could not handle the workload. We played a little better in the second half, but La Conner is a good team and seemed to play cat and mouse with us.”

This week the Vikings face Mt. Vernon Christian and Friday Harbor.

Football

The Viking men hosted Concrete in the first eight-man football game on Orcas for some time. Although the Vikings scored more points and dominated the Lions, the Vikings forfeited the game by rule since Concrete, capable of fielding a complete 11-man team, displayed superb sportsmanship and “played down” to eight-man and traveled to Orcas Island.

“We got the ball first and scored after Miles Harlow drove the team down the field with Charlie Holmes running the ball, and capped the drive with a 57-yard TD pass to Vanya Bullock,” said Coach Justin Frausto. “Harlow and Bullock connected for three touchdown receptions. After getting a pretty good lead, Hayden Simpson came in as quarterback and went 10/14 for 135 yards. Gunnar Sandwith had five catches and a strong running game too. Defensively, Ricky DeAnda, Holmes and Bullock took control of the Lions’ offense, contributing to the Viking 38-0 lead at half. Our guys were swarming to the ball. Great to see everyone get playing time and play different positions.”

Although the Vikings forfeited the game, Orcas won the game on the scoreboard, 44-22.

The Vikings travel to play the Lummi Nation this week.

Volleyball

The Lady Vikings entered the second week of the season with loses to Concrete, 3-2, and LaConner, 3-0.

Coach Rebekah Hardee said, “This week took us out to Concrete. We won the first two sets against the Lions with serving from Bethany Hansen and consistent passing from our Libero Katy Minnis which led to kills from Parker Landsman and Journey Howden. In the end we lost in 5 sets but now have a clearer picture of what to work on as we move forward. On our way to the match, the varsity team chose Bethany Hansen as our Team Captain. She is a great example of the qualities we look for in a captain and demonstrates this daily with her actions.

Thursday the Vikings traveled to Skagit Valley to face the Braves, “We ended this week against La Conner. It was a match filled with learning opportunities and again revealed the things we need to work on to better our team as we take on these challenges!”

This week the Vikings host Friday Harbor and travel to Darrington.