La Conner's Gamble pays off in key league soccer win

The odds seemed stacked against them, but the La Conner Braves had an ace up their sleeve in last week’s league soccer opener with Friday Harbor.

That ace was defender Kyla Crawford, who shifted gears in the first half and in the process helped kick-start La Conner’s season with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.

Crawford, who started the match on defense, was moved to offense after a Friday Harbor goal and eventually teamed with Isis Gamble to notch the tying score.

Taylor Reimland later con-verted a penalty kick to clinch the win for La Conner.

Lady Braves head coach Amy Freeto said it was part of her game plan to shift Crawford back to offense after she had spent last year on the back line due to some roster shuffling.

“Kyla was playing in her defensive position that she had played in last year due to two players not being eligible,” Freeto explained. “We planned to start somewhat cautiously against Friday Harbor. After they scored we moved her up into what we intend to be her ‘new’ offensive position.”

The ploy worked.

Within moments, Crawford and Gamble had executed a perfect give-and-go to knot the score at 1-1.

“Kyla raced through their defense and Isis threaded a pass to her that Kyla promptly put into the back of the net,” Freeto said.

Friday Harbor was called for a handball 15 minutes into the second half, resulting in the game-winning penalty kick by Reimland.

The win was huge in more ways than one for the Lady Braves.

Not only did La Conner defeat a league rival and title contender, but Freeto was able to employ her entire lineup, giving all eligible players quality minutes in a key contest.

“To win our first game and to win it comfortably against the Wolverines and to get every eligible player onto the field in a Friday Harbor match just usually doesn’t happen,” Freeto stressed. “To say that it’s a great way to start the season is an understatement.

“We’re definitely thrilled,” she said.

Freeto wasn’t thrilled this past summer, however, when she caught her first glimpse of the 2014 schedule and saw La Conner would open opposite Friday Harbor.

“Traditionally,” she noted, “we don’t play well in our first game. We usually have one or two non-league games and then an easier league game before our first Friday Harbor rival game.

“But,” she added, “as this team has continued to do since we started on Aug. 25, it surprised me. Our players took the field against Friday Harbor with a confident stride and gelled almost immediately after the opening whistle.”

La Conner players maintained that confidence even after yielding an early Friday Harbor score.

“We were confident,” said Freeto, “based on our play and almost constant control of the ball that we would get an equalizer quickly – which we did.”

That equalizer came when Freeto rolled the dice and summoned Crawford to the offensive end, where she and Gamble helped thwart a Friday Harbor upset bid.