These are the champions: Fall 2011 Va. State Cup winners crowned at SportsQuest

And then, there were eight.

Over the past two months, hundreds of teams from across Virginia have battled for the right to call themselves State Cup champions, and last weekend the select few survivors gathered for the tournament’s “Final Four” weekend at the SportsQuest facility in Midlothian.

Originally scheduled for Oct. 29-30 at two predominantly natural-grass facilities in Virginia Beach, foul weather prompted the event’s postponement and relocation to the all-synthetic-turf complex outside Richmond and this time play proceeded with minimal hitches.

With four talented semifinalists in each boys’ and girls’ age group (Under-14, U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-18), the action was extraordinarily tight, with only five of the weekend’s 24 matches decided by more than a two-goal margin and eight games needing overtime or penalty-kick shootout to determine a winner.

Potomac Soccer Wire correspondent Jimmy Laroue was on hand all weekend to take in the proceedings and record the thoughts and reactions of coaches and players, and we’ve collected his reports here.

Saturday (semifinals):

[ +Chantilly Burn, LMVSC Patriots earn shutouts in U-17 Girls State Cup semis ]

[ +Herndon Firecats stage late, late comeback to defeat Lee-Mt. Vernon in U-17 semifinal ]

[ Overtime penalty pushes Loudoun 95B Red past Beach FC Red in U-16 Boys semi ]

[ +Stunning comeback lifts BRYC 95 Elite over PWSI Courage 95 ]

[ +VSA Heat 96G, PWSI Courage 96 Red book finals tickets in U-15 Girls bracket ]

[ +Beach FC U15B Red, Herndon Boca Jrs. advance to U-15 Boys championship match ]

[ +Mixed results for Annandale teams on Saturday ]

Sunday (finals):

[ +PWSI Courage 94 Red shut out Reston FC 94 for U-17 Boys championship ]

[ +Lee-Mt. Vernon Patriots stun Chantilly Burn in U-18 Girls final upset ]

[ +VSA Heat Blue score two in OT to defeat Firecats for U-17 Girls title ]

[ +Foxhall’s PK heroics help VSA Heat 96G win U-15 Girls championship ]

[ +Pompillio brace leads Vista RFC 93 to U-18 Boys title ]

[ +Overtime goal gives Beach FC U15B Red U-15 Boys championship ]

[ +SOCA Lightning Elite take U-16 Boys championship ]

[ +Third time the charm as BRYC 95 Elite wins U-16 Girls championship ]

PSW congratulates all eight of this fall’s State Cup winners, as well as all the players and teams who competed in the tournament and helped make it the special event it is.