FAIRBANKS SOCCER CLUB MEN’S TEAM WINS 2021 UPSL LAST FRONTIER DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP!
The Fairbanks Soccer Club men’s team has captured its first ever UPSL Last Frontier Division championship! The men’s team finished the 2021 season tied for first on points with Pioneer United but with a better goal differential, more goals for, less goals against, and a head-to-head advantage. Congratulations to our men’s team players and coaches for all of their efforts this season, which culminated with a 6-2 win over Pioneer United on our last home game of the season to capture the championship!
GAME RECAP: Fairbanks Soccer Club 6 – Pioneer United 2 — In a showdown between the first and second place teams in the league, the Fairbanks Soccer Club men’s team finished the season with an emphatic 6-2 victory! Daniel Crutcher opened and closed the scoring, the first off of an assist from goalie James Aleshire and the sixth off of a scorpion kick! The score was knotted 1-1 at halftime, but the deadlock was broken minutes into the second half on a diving header by Cole Daniel on an assist from Isaac Dershin. Josh Million scored our third and fourth goals on headers off of free kicks by Skyler Denny, before turning provider and slotting the ball back to the penalty spot for Skyler to slam in our fifth goal. Daniel Crutcher closed things out in the 92nd minute with the goal of a lifetime, scoring a scorpion kick off of the back of his heel off of a cross from Erik Attla. We are so proud of the effort our entire squad put in on Saturday, and the hard work and talent that they’ve brought to training and games all season!
We would like to say a big ‘Thank You’ to our fantastic partners at the game on Saturday, including Roaming Wolf Grill food truck, Goldie’s AK serving up Black Spruce Brewing Company beer and their own slushees made using Ursa Major Distillingproducts, local artist and youth soccer player Ashlyn Parduhn for singing the national anthem, and RTEK Entertainment for bringing the noise and excitement!
If you missed the game on Saturday, you can watch the replay on MyCujoo/Eleven Sports at – https://mycujoo.tv/view/event/cksc598wwb5pv0hekforgc0y1?src=iOS_BC.
You can watch the goal highlights at – https://mycujoo.tv/view/event/cksctf44mbu750hekguidhjpa?src=CPT_DBMW.
You can watch KTVF/Webcenter Fairbanks coverage of the championship-clinching win at – https://www.webcenterfairbanks.com/video/2021/08/17/fairbanks-soccer-club/
You can read the Fairbanks Daily News Miner coverage of the championship-clinching win at – https://www.newsminer.com/sports/fsc-wins-last-frontier-division-with-6-2-victory/article_cdd430d4-fd68-11eb-b3df-7f22ebf2a8ab.html
On August 7th we hosted our third round of home games against Arctic Rush! The Women’s team dropped a hard fought game 3-1 to the Alaska Division conference champions. Our men’s team won 3-0 to maintain second place in the Last Frontier Conference standings, on the back of two goals from Daniel Crutcher and a goal and an assist from Braeden Hoppough. Performing artist Willa Watts sang the national anthem at both games. The Alaska Golden Heart Cheer squad performed at halftime of the men’s game, and we gave away a slew of raffle prizes at the halftimes of both games, including a grand prize from Northern Alaska Tour Company!
We hosted our second round of home games against Cook Inlet Soccer Club on July 24th. Our men’s team was held to a disappointing 0-0 draw despite dominating for long stretches of the game and hitting the woodwork, and remained in 2nd place in the Last Frontier Conference league standings. Our women’s team played a thrilling Blue versus Gold game after the Cook Inlet Women’s team failed to field a side and forfeited the game. The women’s game featured some standout performances and the squad was delighted to welcome back a number of players who returned from college camps and national tournaments! Thank you to the hundreds of fans who turned out to watch the games!
We traveled south to Anchorage for our third weekend of away games on July 17th against Arctic Rush. Our men’s team picked up a thrilling 3-2 win on a 92nd minute goal by leading scorer Nick Herzberg to establish themselves alone in second place. Nick had two goals on the game, on assists from Tobias Albrigtsen and Skyler Denny, and Skyler scored the other goal on a penalty. Our women’s team had a hard-fought loss to Arctic Rush and continues to work towards its first win of the season.
On July 10th our men’s team beat Alaska Timbers 4-2 on goals from Nick Herzberg and Kevin Martinez, while our women’s team lost to Alaska Thorns 6-0. Nick Herzberg scored a first-half hat-trick, the first hat-trick in Fairbanks Soccer Club history! On July 11th our men’s team played Pioneer United in a matchup of the last two undefeated teams in the league, and dropped a closely contested game 2-0. We were proud of the effort put in by our players during our second away trip of the season!
For a write up of our first away games, please visit the Daily News Miner.
For a write up of our first home games, please visit the Daily News Miner.
Thank you to our partners at RTEK Entertainment, Goldie’s AK, The Fire food truck, Roaming Wolf Grill, Ken Tape and Greta Myerchin-Tape, Callie Enne, Willa Watts, and Media North for their services at our home games!