ISLE OF WIGHT—Spring is mostly in the air, and the first sport to take the field is soccer. When conference heavyweights Isle of Wight Academy and Southampton Academy got together on a windy afternoon, 13 goals were scored.

“That’s not normal,” said IWA Head Coach Caren Moore after the game. “We do have high-scoring games, but when SA and IWA play each other, the matches are always under five total goals.”

Scoring started early, with only five minutes elapsed in the first quarter, as IWA’s Justin Cobb scored on a penalty kick following a tackle that tripped him up from Jake Ramey.

Two minutes later, a Ramey tackle attempt resulted in another penalty kick, but this one went wide to the left. About a minute later, IWA received another penalty kick, but a defender blocked it before it reached the keeper. The rebound shot did not result in a goal.

At around the 31-minute mark, the referees gave Ramey a yellow card for his third foul. The penalty shot was blocked by the keeper.

A turnover around the 27-minute mark would allow Southampton to push the ball down the field, and three minutes later, Senior Alec Lippe would get his first goal of the season.

Tied at 1-1, the teams would battle it out mostly at midfield for the next 10 minutes, but a free kick would allow IWA to push it in.

Josh Weihe would get his first goal of the season, putting IWA up 2-1 at the 13-minute mark. Will Leaman would get the assist.

Lippe would get his second goal of the season at the 8:30 mark, and two minutes later, Johnny Tribbett would put the Raiders ahead 3-2 with his first goal.

The score would hold until halftime.

Not long into the second half, Cobb would tie it up with a goal, assisted by Corey Holleman.

Tribbett would answer at the 34:30 mark, once again giving SA the lead.

Penalties would once again haunt SA, as at the 28-minute mark, Leaman would tie it up at 4 all off a penalty kick.

IWA would keep up the pressure on the Southampton side of the field, and off of a rebound three minutes later, Leaman would score again, making it 5-4 IWA.

SA would get a chance at 18:42 to even it up with a penalty kick, but the keeper blocked it. The block going out resulted in a corner kick opportunity for SA, but the keeper again kept it out.

The two teams battled for the next several minutes, with IWA getting a good shot on goal, but not coming away with anything.

At 10:45 that would change, as Tribbett got a hat trick on his third goal of the evening, tying it up at 5 all.

“He’s off to a great start,” said Raider Head Coach Jamie Weist. “I’m looking forward to seeing what he does on Friday and the whole season.”

Five minutes later, IWA would push ahead 6-5 on Cobb’s hat trick. Two minutes later, Tribbett would score his fourth goal of the night, and even it up at 6-6.

The teams mostly battled it out at midfield until overage play. It was looking like the two teams would tie until Cobb broke away, pushed it up to Weihe and he pushed it past the Raider Keeper Chris Fly.

“It was one of the most exciting games I have ever coached in,” said Weist. “Our kids were pumped up, over-stimulated, and it was hard for them to settle down. We made some mistakes early on, gave up the lead, came back up, took the lead, and it was just a back and forth match the whole game.

“This is going to be an exciting season.”

Isle of Wight Academy spent more time pressuring Southampton Academy on offense, and it showed as they mustered 10 more shots on goal.

Weist said SA would have to improve on defense.

“Giving up seven goals in a game is not acceptable,” he said. “So we are going to be looking to tighten up.”

Moore was happy to win the first game of the season, especially against a tough team like SA.

“Southampton is a good team,” she said. “I’m ecstatic, enthusiastic about winning a game like that.

“We have a hard season ahead of us, but our kids will play tough, play to their best, and they will always play with heart. They are fantastic teammates.”