Sharks Pass Final Test Before League Games Begin

With league games starting this Friday the long trek up to Arroyo Grande was the perfect chance for the Sharks to test themselves against a quality opponent. The fifth ranked Division IV Arroyo Grande Eagles were the test the Sharks hoped to pass. With three players missing there was no doubt the entire team would have to dig deep and play hard if they were to win, and they did.

With solid contributions from the entire team and a season high seven goals from Jordan Clarke the Sharks beat the Eagles 12 to 7. 

Clarke scored the first goal on a pass from Henry Buckley, the second goal on a pass from Jens Cole and his third goal for the Sharks on a pass from Emmet Pierson and the Sharks led four to one after the first quarter.

The Eagles managed to score three goals in the second quarter either on breakaways or by pounding the ball into the set position, but two goals by Pierson and another goal by Clarke had the Sharks up seven to four at half time.

The third quarter started with the Eagles deciding they should focus on Clarke, so he passed it to Cole who sniped home a seven meter shot before the goalie could react. Then on a six on five advantage Clarke found Buckley open for another goal. 

With the Eagles defense unsure who to cover Pierson got the ball Clarke for yet another goal and they ended the quarter with Morgan Hathorn passing the ball to Clarke for his sixth goal of the game.

Not surprisingly the Sharks started the fourth quarter with Hathorn passing to Clarke for his seventh goal and the Sharks cruised to their 10th win of the year. 

Final statistics of the game had Clarke with three assists and two steals to go along with his seven goals. Pierson had three goals, three steals and three assists. Cole came through with a goal, two assists and two steals. Buckley had a goal, an assist and two steals. The Sharks also managed to score on four out of five of their man advantages and Dane Sartorius was sharp in goal as always.

Coach Mulligan was pleased with the team’s performance and said, "it was a team effort today."

The JV team also has been solid this season and came away with a quality win.

In a tough game they led by one after the first quarter, but were down by a score of 5 to 4 at half time.Things looked bleak for the JV team when the Eagles scored three straight breakaway goals to start the third quarter and led 7 to 4.  But solid play by Phillip Campanella, Kai Schulz, Hans Cole and a great nine meter shot by Walker Hannigan brought the Sharks back. Campanella scored the last two goals and the Sharks won 10 to 9.

League play starts this Friday with a road game to Carpinteria and then the home opener is Wednesday, Oct. 3 against the #1 ranked Oaks Christian Lions.  The Sharks remain ranked third in Division VI.