Champions crowned at the 2013 US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships

HONOLULU – Winners were crowned 2013 US Youth Soccer Region IV Champions on Sunday and the Under-13 through Under-19 champions have earned a berth to the US Youth Soccer National Championships, presented by the National Guard, July 22-28 in Overland Park, Kan., at the Overland Park Soccer Complex.

California South was the big winner on the day, taking seven of eight Boys’ titles, with Pateadores claiming three as a club. FC Golden State took home two crowns and were runners-up in a third championship game. Cal-South Girls took five of eight titles, with Legends FC claiming two.

As hosts, Hawaii played for four titles and won their third ever Regional Championship with Leahi 95 Premier winning the Under-18 Girls. Hawaii’s only National Championship came from the Under-19 Boys Honolulu SC Bulls in 2004.

Three of the four defending champions that advanced to this year’s Regional Championships made it all the way to the championship match, with the Under-13 Boys Pateadores LA (CA-S) and Under-15 Boys Santa Barbara SC (CA-S) repeating as Region IV Champions. The title was Santa Barbara’s third in four years as they move on to defend their 2012 National Championship.

Under-16 Girls Legends FC (CA-S) were already set to defend their National title thanks to their finish in this season’s US Youth Soccer National League, but they will take the Region IV trophy with them after this week’s title run.

2013 US Youth Soccer Region IV Champions

Girls

U-12: Colorado Rush Nike (CO)
U-13: Legends FC 99 (CA-S)
U-14: Eastside FC 98 Red (WA)
U-15: Carlsbad Elite 97/98 (CA-S)
U-16: Legends FC (CA-S)
U-17: Fram Premier (CA-S)
U-18: Leahi 95 Premier (HI)
U-19: So Cal Blues Dido (CA-S)

Boys

U-12: FC Golden State Academy (CA-S)
U-13: Pateadores LA (CA-S)
U-14: Pateadores CM (CA-S)
U-15: Santa Barbara SC White (CA-S)
U-16: FC Golden State White (CA-S)
U-17: Santa Clara Sporting 95 (CA-N)
U-18: Albion USA (CA-S)
U-19: Pateadores ANA (CA-S)

Notes from Sunday’s matches…

Under-12 Girls
Colorado’s only regional title in 2013 came from the U-12 Girls where Colorado Rush Nike defeated San Diego Surf 00-01 White (CA-S) 3-1. After Rush initially took the lead in the 16th minute from a Erin Hohnstein goal, Surf leveled in the 39th through Madison Mercado. Rush regained the lead for good in the 64th on a Sydney Compoz strike and then added an insurance goal in the 71st from Macy Clem to take home the trophy.

Under-13 Girls
Legends FC (CA-S) claimed two girls’ titles in 2013 and the U-13’s notched the first of the day, holding on for a 3-2 victory over Arsenal Colorado Gold. After a scoreless first half, Legends ran off three straight from Taylor Gosselin in the 37th, Nia Harris in the 57th and Kaylee Ramirez in the 60th as it looked like they would run away with the title. But Arsenal had some fight left in them and almost pulled level thanks to a Madison Williams goal in the 66th and then Riley Dietrich five minutes later. But that was as close as Arsenal would get as Legends head off to the National Championships.

Under-14 Girls
In a rematch from group play, where Eastside FC 98 Red (WA) and La Roca FD (UT) drew 0-0, Eastside took the championship with a 3-0 win on the final day. Laura Roberts scored the eventual game winner in the 10th minute and Joanna Harber doubled the lead in the 20th for a 2-0 lead at the break. As the Eastside defense stayed firm once again, Makaylie Moore added an insurance goal off a beautiful 30 yard direct kick in the 70th minute to send Eastside on to Overland Park.

Under-15 Girls
Carlsbad Elite (CA-S) had already punched their ticket to the National Championships after winning their National League division, but they wanted a regional title too and they put an exclamation point on the week with a 3-0 victory over Boise Nationals Italia (ID). Despite the loss, Nationals will advance to the National Championships as the Region IV representative since Carlsbad is going as National League champion. Despite having numerous teams make the regional final, no Idaho team has ever been able to take home the title and Nationals are the first team from the state to qualify for the National Championships. U.S. Under-15 National Team pool member Sunny Dunphy struck the game winner in the 23rd minute and Natallie Rocha made it 2-0 at the break with a stoppage time strike. Hayley Mayne put the finishing touches on the scoring in the 50th minute and the Carlsbad defense put on an epic performance, shutting out all six opponents during the Regional Championships.

Under-16 Girls
The championship game featured two Far West Regional League champions and two teams that had already qualified for the National Championships thanks to their finish in this season’s National League: Legends FC (CA-S) and DMCV Sharks (CA-S). Both teams wanted to claim the regional title, but a third place game was necessary to decide the Region IV representative at Nationals. Sharks took the lead on the defending National Champions with Kirsten McBeain’s 38th minute goal, but Peyton Perea showed why she’s a National Team commodity by netting in the 62nd and 78th minutes to lead Legends back for the championship.

Under-16 Girls (Third Place)
Bay Oaks Botafogo (CA-N) claimed the Region IV slot at Nationals after winning the third place game 1-0 over Carlsbad Elite (CA-S). Aerial Chavarin stepped up for Botafogo with her strike in the 12th minute as the defense kept a clean sheet to move on to Nationals.

Under-17 Girls
Fram Premier (CA-S) will make the club’s first appearance at the National Championships after defeating Sparta 96 Premier (UT), 3-1. Sparta took the lead just three minutes into the contest from Madison Lyons, but Fram responded with three unanswered staring with Samantha James’ 23rd minute goal to head into the break 1-1. Victoria Bolden lifted her team to victory with a second half double in the 50th and 63rd to complete the comeback and head for a chance to bring home a National title.

Under-18 Girls
Leahi 95 Premier became just the third Hawaiian team to win a Regional Championship and the only one of four in the finals today to be victorious with a 3-2 win over Arsenal Colorado. Leahi will try to win the state’s second National Championship when they head to Overland Park. Dempsey Banks sent the hometown crowd into a frenzy with the opening goal in the 14th minute, but Arsenal leveled seven minutes later to make it a battle. Banks grabbed her double in the 69th to put Leahi back in front, and they could taste the championship when Daisy Pascua added an insurance goal in the 75th. Arsenal made a push with a Katy Couperus goal with nine minutes left, but the final whistle set off a party for all the spectators and the Leahi players as they claimed the Region IV title.

Under-19 Girls
So Cal Blues Dido notched the clubs second U-19 Girls title in two years with a 2-0 win over Express (HI). Kodi Lavrusky netted both goals for the Blues, in the 7th and 40th minutes, to lead her side to the National Championships after the two teams drew 1-1 in preliminary play. Blues will look to take home the Ross Stewart Cup after falling short in 2012.

Under-12 Boys
FC Golden State of Cal-South claimed its first two Region IV Championships this year and the U-12 Academy team officially became the first team from the club to win a regional championship after they defeated HSC Bulls 01 (HI) 3-1. Facing a Bulls team that brought along a few hundred fans, FC Golden State did their best to neutralize the crowd with two goals in the first 12 minutes. Abraham Gonzalez struck first just five minutes in and Alen Piceno followed up seven minutes later. Matthew Hoppe made it a three goal lead a minute into the second half, but Bulls got on the board in the 37th from Jourdan Furukawa, but the score would stand as the 12’s delivered the first Region IV title for the club.

Under-13 Boys
It was a record day for the Pateadores club of Southern California, taking home three championships and sending all to the National Championships next month. Jason Pacas was the star of the day for the U-13 Pateadores LA team, leading them to back-to-back Region IV titles. Pacas scored a hatrick to guide Pats past SC del Sol White (AZ) 4-1, a team that had beaten them during group play. Pacas gave Pats the halftime lead with a stoppage time goal and then doubled it 14 minutes after the break. Carter Clemmensen pulled Del Sol back into the game with a 60th minute strike, but Pacas followed up with his third two minutes later and Kyle Holcumb put the game out of reach with Pats fourth in the 70th.

Under-14 Boys
Pateadores SC’s first championship of the day was delivered by the U-14 Pateadores CM (CA-S) squad, unseating the defending champs United FC Gold (CA-S) by a 3-1 score. Christopher Lopez led the way with a brace, giving Pats the halftime lead with a 17th minute goal. Jhovany Tenorio made it 2-0 eight minutes after the restart, but Kevin Diaz grabbed a goal back for United in the 50th. That was as close as United would get however as Lopez netted his second in the 66th to send Pats on to the National Championships.

Under-15 Boys
Defending National Champions Santa Barbara SC White (CA-S) won their second consecutive Region IV Championship, defeating FC Golden State Platinum (CA-S), giving the team three regional titles in four years. Like last year’s national final, Santa Barbara prevailed in a penalty shootout. FC Golden State took the lead just six minutes into the contest from Joseph Celo and that lead held for over an hour until Eric Contreras leveled in the 68th for Santa Barbara. After 30 minutes of scoreless overtime play, Santa Barbara prevailed 4-2 in the shootout to move on and defend their national crown.

Under-16 Boys
FC Golden State (CA-S) got its second championship of the day thanks to the U-16 White team, which defeated Cascade FC Boca Juniors (OR) 2-1. The Far West Regional League champions struck twice in two minutes just after the restart from Edgar Esquivel in the 49th and Reyes Jaimes in the 51st to jump in front. Boca Juniors made a late push with a Kevin Moranchel strike in the 80th, but it was not enough as FC Golden State claimed the U-16 crown.

Under-17 Boys
Santa Clara Sporting 95 grabbed Cal-North’s only regional title in 2013 with a 4-2, come from behind victory over Crossfire Premier 95 (WA). Sporting came out ready to play and dominated the opening 15 minutes, taking the lead in the 13th from Bradley Bumgarner. However, Crossfire found their form as the half wore on and took the lead with goals from Adeseyi Adekoya in the 34th and Ionatan Cohen six minutes later. Trailing 2-1, Sporting took over the game with three goals in four minutes of the second half. Bumgarner started things off with his second in the 71st before Andres Ochoa Baeza scored the winner in the 73rd and Anthony Tejeda Ledezma put in the insurance goal in the 75th to end the barrage and send Sporting to the national finals.

Under-18 Boys
Despite having played in two National Championship games, Albion USA (CA-S), winners of three consecutive Cal-South State Championships, took their first Region IV title today with a 2-1 victory over Boise Nationals Premier (ID). Having advanced to Nationals in 2010 and 2011 as National League champions, Albion finished tied atop their National League division in 2012 but lost the automatic spot on tiebreakers before falling in a shootout at the Regional Championships. They will return to the national stage this year thanks to Ariel Lassiter’s brace. Lassiter put Albion on top in the 16th minute for the halftime lead, but Nationals leveled in the 56th when Austin Azevedo headed in a cross from the left side. Lassiter stepped up again in the 69th to grab the winner as Albion searches for their first national crown, while Boise fell in the regional final for the second time in three years.

Under-19 Boys
The scene on the field told the story as the Pateadores ANA (CA-S) let the emotion flow following their 2-1 victory over hometown HSC Bulls 94 (HI). Pats will move on to play for the storied James P. McGuire Cup, the oldest trophy in youth sports, after a comeback victory in front of 2,000 local fans cheering on the Bulls. HSC took the lead in the 20th minute Aaron Goo slotted home a penalty kick. Luke Kadillak shouldered the responsibility to lead Pats back to victory as he grabbed a brace with the game tying goal just before halftime and then tucking in the winner in the 52nd for Pats third title of the day as a club. Pats will now move on to play for a chance at the McGuire Cup, in which the final will be televised live on FOX Soccer.

The US Youth Soccer National Championships will consist of US Youth Soccer Regional Champions in the Under-13 through Under-19 Boys and Girls age groups as well as the US Youth Soccer National League qualifiers in the Under-15 through Under-18 Boys and Girls age groups to complete the field of 88 teams.

Scores from Sunday’s matches…