Knights take first in Farmington tourney

FARMINGTON — The Farmington Knights took advantage of free kicks and fast breaks to register a 5-2 win over the Windsor Owls in the championship game of the Farmington Soccer Tournament on Thursday.

Drew Fuemmeler sent free kick after free kick into the box with three being picked up by the Knights’ forwards for scores and three assists for Fuemmeler.

Pete Grindel, who had scored five goals in the Knights first-round game on Tuesday, was shadowed constantly throughout the game, but on the first free kick by Fuemmeler, Grindel broke free and sliced through the defenders to head the ball into the net just in front of the goalkeeper’s outstretched hands for Farmington’s first goal, 14:37 into the game.

In similar fashion, a corner kick by Ted Hitson 10 minutes later was taken on the fly with a header by Zach Thomas to make the score 2-0. The Knights nearly added another goal but a loose ball booted by Trevor Ratliff struck the crossbar and ricocheted back onto the playing field instead.

The Owls got on the board late in the half with Brett Alvarado breaking through two defenders. As Farmington goalie John Schnurbusch advanced to cut off the direction of the ball, it was deflected back into the path of Alvarado who promptly deposited the ball into the net. Schnurbusch made eight saves in the game.

Farmington (2-0) struck first again in the second half. After a tripping call on Windsor which sent Hitson to the ground, Fuemmeler made his second assist on a free kick. This time it would be Ratliff who sliced in from the far corner to take the pass on his body, with his momentum causing him to follow the ball on into the net as well.

At the 70 minute mark, Grindel and Dylan Elders produced a fast break with Grindel drawing the defenders to him and then feeding Elders for the score  to make it 4-1.

As time ran down, Windsor picked up its offensive intensity, and on a corner kick that settled into the box, Alvarado was able to find the loose ball, drilling it past Schnurbusch for the Owls final goal.

A final free kick by Fuemmeler again produced results as Zach Thomas worked the ball off of the defense taking a rebound and rifling it past Windsor’s goalie inside the two-minute mark. The Knights made 15 shots on goal with goalkeep Jake Tanner making eight saves.

Farmington’s next game will be at home on Tuesday against Northwest.