Cascadia youth weekend wrap: WA State Cup nearly done, OR finals set
By Liviu Bird
A quick glance at the Oregon Premier League State Cup finals matchups reveals that two clubs are in the running for the majority of the titles. Well, sort of.
FC Portland has finalists in eight of the 16 brackets, while Portland Timbers Alliance clubs — affiliates of the parent Major League Soccer club — will appear in seven finals (twice against another Alliance club). In some cases, the two powerhouses match up directly; in many others, they did in the semifinals.
The Oregon Premier League is, as the name suggests, the top level of competition in the state of Oregon. Participants in the OPL State Cup must have participated in the fall or winter OPL seasons, and group matchups are determined by order of league finish and competitiveness in league play.
The Timbers are sponsoring this year’s OPL State Cup. The finals will be held at the Tualatin Hills Recreational Center fields throughout the day on Saturday. Here are the finals matchups (for a full list of schedule details and results, follow this link):
Boys under-11: Eastside Timbers ’01 Red vs. Westside Timbers ’01 Copa
Boys under-12: FC Portland ’00 Navy vs. Westside Timbers ’00 Copa
Boys under-13: Westside Timbers ’99 Copa vs. FC Portland ’99 Navy
Boys under-14: FC Portland ’98 Navy vs. Cascade FC Real Madrid
Boys under-15: Oswego Southside SA ’97 Green I vs. Bridlemile SC Portland ’97 Hood River
Boys under-16: Westside Timbers ’96 Copa vs. Oregon Rush ’96 Nike
Boys under-17: Westside Timbers ’95 Copa vs. Oswego Southside SA ’95 Green
Boys under-18: FC Portland ’94 Navy vs. Oswego Southside SA ’94 Green
Girls under-11: FC Portland ’01 Navy vs. Cascade FC Red
Girls under-12: Eastside Timbers ’00 Red vs. NEU Arsenal Gunners
Girls under-13: Eugene Metro FC ’99 Athletica Blue vs. FC Portland ’99 Navy
Girls under-14: Tualatin Hills United SC Onyx vs. Southside SC Stealth
Girls under-15: Eastside Timbers ’97 Red vs. Westside Timbers ’97 Copa
Girls under-16: Oswego Southside SA ’96 Blue I vs. FC Portland ’96 Navy
Girls under-17: Oswego Southside SA ’95 Blue vs. Tualatin Hills United SC Sodium
Girls under-18: FC Portland ’94 Navy vs. Eugene Metro FC ’94 Havoc
Across the border in Washington, the high school-age teams have already finished their State Cup competitions due to the high school spring season (girls in Washington play in the fall; both Oregon seasons are in fall).
The final four of the boys’ under-12, under-13 and under-14 age groups will be next weekend, with Crossfire Premier and Washington Premier featuring in all three, along with a smattering of other elite clubs in the area.
The three youngest girls’ age groups will also finish this weekend. The matches will be at Starfire on Saturday and Sunday. Here are the matchups (for a full list of schedule details and results, follow this link):
Boys under-12: Washington Premier ’00 Black vs. Seattle United ’00 Copa; Crossfire ’00 Black A vs. Eastside FC ’00 Red
Boys under-13: Northwest Nationals ’99 Red vs. Washington Premier ’99 Black; Crossfire ’99 James vs. FC Alliance ’99 A
Boys under-14: Washington Premier ’98 Black vs. Seattle United ’98 Copa; PacNW ’98 Maroon vs. Crossfire ’98 James
Girls under-12: FC Salmon Creek ’00 Nemesis vs. Spokane Shadow SC ’00 Shadow; PacNW ’00 Maroon vs. Northwest Nationals ’00 Red
Girls under-13: Seattle United ’99 Copa vs. Eastside FC ’99 Red; Crossfire ’99 Tolstolutsky vs. PacNW ’99 Maroon
Girls under-14: Washington Rush ’98 Nike vs. Seattle United ’98 Copa; Eastside FC ’98 Red vs. Northwest Nationals ’98 Red
Winners of the older boys’ age groups were:
Under-15: Crossfire ’97 James
Under-16: Washington Premier ’96 Black
Under-17: Crossfire ’95 Collings
Under-18: Eastside FC ’94 Red
The older girls’ age groups’ semifinals and finals will be contested May 11 and 12 at Starfire.
Reaching across state lines, Crossfire Premier hosted the Portland Timbers in the only U.S. Soccer Development Academy action in the Northwest last weekend. The host team came out on top in both the under-16 and under-18 matches.
Crossfire’s under-16s blanked the Timbers 3-0, while the under-18s pulled out a 2-1 victory. James Molyneux-Elliot scored again for Crossfire, his team-leading ninth goal of the year, while Christian Desir put away No. 11 for Portland.
Desir has appeared in two of the Timbers’ four MLS Reserve League matches this year, and he was an unused substitute in another.
