The 2017 Ryan Krug Vashon Cup kicked off last Sunday with a brief speech by Rich Krug, father of Ryan Krug. And then the oldest club team, the Vashon Island Soccer Club Riptide coached by Bob Hennessey and Lorin Reinelt, and the Vashon Men’s team battled it out on the field.

The men’s team was somewhat outgunned in the first half. Youth and speed prevailed. Stuart Kraabel had an early goal, blowing by the left back and although center back Don Amick came over to cover, Kraabel blistered one into the top crossbar, which ricocheted into goal. Great shot.

Another key moment in the game came off an impressively long throw-in by Ezra Koenig. A barely touched header squibbed into goal for the men, but it was called back due to a foul throw, as Koenig’s feet were across the sideline.

The Riptide continued to press the affair, with most of the first part of the game played in the men’s half, and the boys held a tenuous 1-0 lead. As the second half began, the men combined better on passing, and with some discussion, got the right people in the right places. However, there was a hard shot on goal, just barely saved by keeper Drew Piston, but Kraabel was coming in strong for the rebounding ball. Don Amick got there first, with a slide tackle of the ball, but his feet flew high and sent Kraabel end-over-end, and a penalty kick was duly awarded. This caused a bit of consternation. Alden Hinden-Stevenson drilled the shot into the right corner hard enough to get by the diving Piston, who got just a finger on it.

The large roster size began to benefit the men as they had subs aplenty. Peter Amick finally broke the ice and scored the first goal to give a bit of hope for the men. As time wound down, with 20 minutes left, Peter Amick was given just enough time and space to line one up from the outside, and he blistered it into goal, far post. There was nothing the keeper could do. Now at 2-2, the game became frenetic, and the emotions were running high on both sides. The referee did his best to keep the game under control despite the rather unruly protestations of the men. Since this was a fundraiser, there may be some post-game fines levied. There will certainly be some work to do by the men to make good with the referee.

With about 5 minutes left in the game, there was a press up field, a scrum at the top of the box, and Sergei Serbryakov sent one down the middle hard. Peter Amick “dummied” that pass, just letting it go through, which threw off the keeper, and it skipped into the goal. Or maybe it was a shot. You will have to ask Serbryakov when you see him.

In my opinion, this was one of the strongest club teams to play in the Ryan Krug Vashon Cup, and we had a decent crowd. The weather helped a little, too. It was an entertaining game for the spectators, but most importantly, 23 men donated money for the privilege of playing in this year’s game and raised over $2,000 for the Ryan Krug Scholarship Fund.

— Greg Martin is and island soccer enthusiast.