Like most of the women who play in the Plantation 8v8 Women’s Soccer League, Lighthouse Point’s Claire Lutkewitte touts the competition and camaraderie.
“We have players of all ages and abilities,” said Lutkewitte, 34, who played college soccer at Rockhurst University in Kansas City and graduated in 2004. “Our first goal is to probably have fun. There are a lot of excollege players, who are just coming off their college careers and they still want to play. We still have some players out here who can move.”
She’s played in the Plantation league for six years now.
“There are not a lot of opportunities in other parts of the country where women can play soccer,” Lutkewitte added. “When I moved here, I was actually ecstatic that there were places where women can play soccer on a regular basis, and it is good quality soccer too.”
The Plantation Women’s Soccer Club 8v8 league featured six teams this summer – all bearing prominent countries’ names. Fittingly, the USA team defeated Germany for the championship at Plantation’s Sunset Park. Lutkewitte played for Canada.
The other teams in the league included Netherlands, Canada, Brazil, and England. All six teams were involved in the playoffs. USA and Germany, the top two seeds received byes, while the other teams played preliminary games to reach the finals. Every game consisted of 25-minute halves.
Rae Vidal started directing several leagues in Plantation about six years ago. In addition to the 8v8 league on Sundays, she also runs a 7v7 (Friday) and 11v11 league, which just started at Plantation Central Park. The women range in age from 21 to 51. She said they plan to continue the 8v8 league on Tuesdays.
“The camaraderie out here is great,” Lutkewitte said. “A lot of us hang out off the field. We help each other when we need it. One of our players had passed away from Breast Cancer and there was this huge support group for that. I met some people who were in a book club and I joined a book club. I think for people that are new to the area and don’t know anyone, I think this is a great place to meet people.”
Lutkewitte, an assistant professor of writing at Nova Southeastern University, also heads up the Soccer Association of Boca Raton’s Adult programs as a coordinator. She said the Boca Raton group usually plays in the fall and the spring; however, this fall they didn’t have fields because of all the youth programs.
“We are on hiatus right now,” Lutkewitte said. “We will probably playing the spring. It would be great if more people would support adult programs and women’s programs in particular.”
Bucks stun Raiders
Deerfield Beach’s Jefferson Souza kicked a 40-yard field goal with 1:08 to play in the third quarter to snap a 3-3 tie and give the host Bucks a 6-3 victory over nationally ranked St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday night.
St. Thomas Aquinas (5-1) had an opportunity to tie the contest; however, Marco Salani was wide with a 20-yard field goal with 41 seconds remaining to give the Bucks (5-1) the victory.
Deerfield Beach took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter, while Salani answered with a 30-yard field goal in the second quarter.
Despite a 364-134 advantage in total yards and a 19-7 advantage in first downs, it marked the first time the Raiders, which was ranked as high as second in national pools, failed to score a TD in 56 games dating back to 2011. St. Thomas hurt itself with three interceptions and 152 yards in penalties