PhotosSpecial to Breeze Newspapers Strikers U17 girls’ soccer team: in front Amanda Kopale; kneeling from left, Ashley Lofgren, Haylie Gutierrez, Kaylee Krohn, Haley Emerson, Brenna Hambsch, Paige Law, Cydney Niedermeyer, Payton Van Horn; standing from left, Casey Gentile, Mariah Bessette, Alejandra Muro, Shannon Pearl, Brittney Herrera, Emily Gibson, Autumn Yesh, Amanda Ivankovic.

Every once in awhile in sports a special player or group of players come together at just the right time to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience that produces special memories and astonishing achievements for all involved.

The Lee County Strikers U17 girls’ soccer team is just such a group. The Strikers, though, are deeply rooted in Cape Coral from the players’ very first exposure to the game with the Cape Coral Soccer Association, competitive Cyclones, the offspring program known for the last two years as the Island Coast Soccer Alliance, and now with the Strikers.

The Cyclones and Fort Myers programs struck a deal to combine the competitive effort under the Island Coast banner. A good idea in theory, perhaps, but never really caught on with enough of the top players. After the competitive season ended last spring, Island Coast was disbanded and the Cyclones were reborn in Cape Coral.

This group of athletically talented teenage girls, however, found breaking up was hard to do. Togetherness and sharing a common goal was more important than the name on their jerseys.

“Staying together showed they all wanted to finish what they started,” said Strikers coach Mark Bost, who was introduced to the group through Island Coast. “These are all college-bound players. They all have the desire to play at the next level.”

If the girls were not as committed to each other or enjoying the amount of success on the field as they are, the decision to split up might have been much easier.

“The coaching staff is amazing,” said Emily Gibson, one of six Strikers players from Ida Baker High School. “They are committed to help us get a college scholarship by the end of the year. They are constantly preparing us to get to the next level. It’s about our passion for the game. We’ve all been together since 8, 9, 10 years old and our main goal is to get to the end together.”

Of the 17 Strikers players, nine are Cape Coral residents – six representing Baker and one each for Cape Coral, North Fort Myers and Mariner high schools.

Besides Gibson, the Baker connection to the Strikers includes Payton Van Horn, Brittney Herrera, Autumn Yesh, Brenna Hambsch (all juniors) and sophomore Shannon Pearl. All except Hambsch played on Baker’s 27-1 soccer team last year that was undefeated until the regional semifinal round of the state tournament.

Other teammates are goalkeeper Amanda Kopale, a Cape High junior, Casey Gentile, a North Fort Myers sophomore, and Alejandra (Ali) Muro, a Mariner sophomore.

“We started playing Cyclones because it pretty much was the only team around for several years,” said Kopale. “All my best friends today are on my soccer team with Island Coast, and coach Mark and coach John (Robinson), they’re still our coach. It’s a great program for all of us to stick as a group. We’ve all grown as players since. For me, I want to get a scholarship to college, so staying with our coach and my teammates was the best way to achieve that.”

“We want them to play the right way and progress,” said Robinson. “It’s not always about results. It’s how you progress with these players. They know what they want to do. They know what their jobs are on the field. We believe in them. You can carry 22 players, but we are comfortable with just these 17 girls.”

The Island Coast breakup and resurrection of the Cyclones created uncertainty for the players and their parents for several weeks.

“We all talked about it at the State Cup last year and decided to stay together and stay with our coach,” said Herrera. “We basically wanted to stay with our coach wherever he went.”

“We stayed together because we all have faith in our coaches,” added Kopale. “We go to the gym for one-on-one training with a personal trainer and have meetings where we talk about colleges and recruiting. It’s been a good experience that we can stay together and develop.”

Van Horn said, “Definitely, it was the coaching staff. We wanted to stay together as a team because we know how each other plays and we can get into the college showcase tournaments.”

Hambsch opted to play basketball at Baker last season, missing out on the soccer team’s journey to a district championship and the second round of the playoffs. She said she is dropping basketball and returning to soccer this season.

“My parents let me decide,” Hambsch said. “I’ve played with these girls since like age 5. When you’ve played with the same girls that long you know how each other plays. We’re like a family and believe we can get farther as a group.”

“Our parents are all close, too,” said Pearl. “We all play high school together and the goal is to get a scholarship to college. We love the sport so much.”

The Strikers just finished their competitive league season last Saturday, beating a team from Sunrise 5-1. They tied their first two games, then reeled off five consecutive wins to earn them the Florida United Girls Soccer Association’s only undefeated record (5-0-2) that included a 4-0 win over nemesis Weston Premier. The Strikers, who outscored their opponents 27-5, placed first in the U17 Premier Division, finishing ahead of two of the state’s top 20 teams.

“We hit our peak for the last games,” said Bost. “We are better than last year. We lost maybe four players from the Island Coast squad, but picked up one ODP (Olympic Development Program) player.”

In the season-ender, Van Horn scored two goals, beating the keeper from point-plank range twice. Pearl got the final goal by driving the ball down the middle, giving a 360-degree turn between two defenders before stepping out to the left to get an angle to beat the keeper.

“We will continue to practice and go to showcase events the next couple of months,” said Bost.

The rest of the Strikers roster consists of girls from Fort Myers, Riverdale, Canterbury, Gateway Char-ter, Evangelical Christian and one from Charlotte High.

The team’s main focus right now is on a major showcase tournament in North Carolina in December.

“I am looking forward to the showcases because all the college coaches go there,” said Kopale. “It will be tough and we will have to work hard at it, but we all know what we are going there for.”

“I’m hoping to get contacts from college coaches so I can better myself in the sport at the next level,” said Van Horn.

“I hope to get recruited by a college,” added Hambsch. “We were unbeaten in this league and we want to make it to the top in the State Cup. The closest we’ve been was fifth a couple years ago.”

“We have a good team and I think we have what it takes to make it to the final four (State Cup),” said Muro. “For me, I just like learning new things. We play as a team and win as a team

The girls are beginning practices with their respective high school teams in preparation for the season that begins in November.

“Obviously, high school soccer is exciting and you get to earn varsity letters and things, but we have trained so long as one unit,” said Kopale. “Now we have to stop, then try to get back together with a few practices to go to a showcase. You try not to pick up any bad habits. For me, I train with the same goalie coach I train with the club team. I try to apply what I’ve learned there to what I do at Cape, and I like the competition of playing against my Strikers teammates.”

“I enjoy playing with these girls,” said Gentile. “I connected with them and enjoy the coaches who are so supportive in trying to make us the best soccer players we can be. The coaches help us work toward a college scholarship which is my main goal.

“It’s fun playing against (Strikers) teammates in high school,” Gentile added. “It’s a different atmosphere. The showcases are more important, but you have to give the same amount of effort every time and every game”

For the Baker girls, the high school season presents a different kind of challenge after what they achieved last year.

“We want to make it farther in the playoffs than we did last year,” said Herrera. “As long as we win the important games is what matters, but whatever happens, happens.”

The memories from that special season rank right up there for the Baker players, but their hearts remain with their competitive team.

“Most memorable?” said Van Horn. “I think our State Cup section trip to Pensacola last year. We won that section to get to State Cup. We had a lot of fun and we played as a team.”

“I remember all the hotel stays on our trips,” said Herrera.

“I loved the Disney showcase trip and am looking forward to going to the North Carolina Showcase in December,” said Pearl. “We do what we love to do together.”

“I enjoy the Disney showcases,” said Hambsch. “Last time we stayed at one of the Disney sports hotels and met some of the other teams. We stayed up late and played little tournaments in the courtyard using a tennis net as a goal. The North Carolina showcase should be a lot of fun, too.”