Remaining finalists decided at US Youth Soccer National Championships

Scores and Standings | Video | LIVE GAMES

TULSA, Okla. (Via US Youth Soccer) — After several thrilling semifinal games Saturday morning at the Mohawk Soccer Complex in Tulsa, Okla., all final matchups are set at the 2015 US Youth Soccer National Championships.

The morning’s excitement will be raised to another level this evening when the champions in the Under-13 and Under-19 age groups are decided. Tonight’s Championship matches begin at 7 p.m. CT with the Under-13 Boys final. The Under-13 Girls and Under-19 Girls finals kick off at 7:15 p.m., followed by the 80th Anniversary of the Under-19 Boys James P. McGuire Cup final at 8 p.m.

All 2015 National Championship finals can be seen live online at http://championships.usyouthsoccer.org/live/.

Several teams are one step closer to reaching their goal of becoming national champions after securing a spot in Sunday’s final matches with semifinal victories on Saturday morning. Three defending champions — Under-16 JFC Storm 98/99 (FL), Under-17 Girls Beach FC Academy 97 (CA-S) and Under-18 Girls DMCV Sharks Elite (CA-S) — are among the finalists in the Under-14 through Under-18 age groups and will have a chance to repeat as the National Champions on Sunday.

A few highlights from Saturday’s semifinal matches…

Girls

Dallas Kicks SC 01 (TX-N) moves on to the Under-14 Girls final after an exciting second half defeat versus FC Pride 01 Elite (IN). After a scoreless first half, FC Pride took quick control nearly a minute into the second half with a strike by Alexa Holl. The goal didn’t affect Dallas however as just a minute later midfielder Taylor Tufts recovered with the equalizer. The tie electrified the match and both teams worked to find the game winner. In the 52nd minute Samantha Meza got past the last defender, rounded the keeper and slid it home to move her Dallas Kicks team to the final versus Legends FC Gold (CA-S).

Legends FC Gold (CA-S) defeated Tophat 19 Gold (GA) 1-0 to move on to the Under-14 Girls final. Not long after the start of the second half, Legends capitalized on a corner kick and after a shuffle with the ball, Liliana Flores-Smith was able to get a touch of the ball to put Legends up 1-0. In the last two minutes of the match, Tophat came close with two chances of their own to equalize, but Legends FC’s keeper and backline protected the net to move on to the final versus Dallas Kicks SC 01 (TX-N).

Tampa Bay United 97 Premier (FL) moves on to the Under-17 Girls final after notching two late back-to-back goals against fellow National League team Carlsbad Elite 97/98 (CA-S). After a scoreless first half, Tampa Bay forward Brianne Folds broke through and netted a 75th minute goal for the 1-0 lead. The momentum continued as forward Samantha Betters doubled Tampa Bay’s score immediately afterward in the 78th minute for the 2-0 result. Tampa Bay will now face defending national champion Beach FC Academy 97 (CA-S) for a rematch of last year’s championship match.

A fury of goals gave Carlsbad Elite (CA-S) a ticket to tomorrow’s Under-18 Girls final. Their one-sided result versus La Roca PO (UT) began with two goals within the first ten minutes of play by Sydney Yates and Haley Walker Robinson. Carlsbad’s dominance continued in the second half with a pair of goals by Bridget Daley in the 50th and 55th minutes, a goal by Nola Prickett in the 58th minute off a corner kick play, and in the 65th minute Sydney Yates found her second goal of the contest. Carlsbad will face familiar foe and defending champs DMCV Sharks Elite (CA-S) in a rematch of last year’s semifinal.

Reigning back-to-back champs DMCV Sharks Elite (CA-S) have booked another ticket to the championship round after a 5-1 win against KC Metros Dymamos (KS) in the Under-18 Girls semifinal. DMCV midfielder Shelby Lee set the tone with a goal in the 4th minute, and teammates Samantha Staab and Crystal Cordova followed with goals in the 13th and 27th minutes. Kristen Cole extended the DMCV lead with a goal in the 45th minute, and Franzisca Komar got DMCV’s fifth goal in the 61st minute. Brooke Prondzinski put KC Metro on the board with a late 80th minute goal, but DMCV Sharks’ vigorous first half performance was too much. DMCV will look to defend their crown and write a little history as a three-time national champion against Carlsbad Elite (CA-S), a familiar in-state rival where in last year’s semifinal DMCV won on a single overtime goal.

Boys

Region III Champion Houstonians 2001 (TX-S) will have a chance to add another title to its resume after defeating San Diego SC 00 Academy Navy (CA-S), 2-1, in their Under-14 semifinal. Guillermo Rodriguez gave Houstonians a late first-half lead and Juan Rodriguez added another goal to put the South Texas side in front, 2-0. San Diego put pressure on as it tried to come back and managed to pull within one when Elahi Navarrete got on the end of a corner kick to the back post and finished. However, Houstonians remained organized in the final minutes and held on for the 2-1 win to advance to Sunday’s final.

A 1-0 victory over defending champion United FA 00 Premier (GA) helped Fewster FC (MD) move on to the Under-15 Boys National Championship final. The teams went back in forth in the opening 40 minutes but neither managed to find the back of the net. The defenses remained steady in the second half until Fewster drew a late penalty kick. Devin McCarthy stepped up to the spot and converted what proved to be the game-winning goal, as Fewster ended United FA’s attempt at a repeat.

Fewster will face Sporting KC Academy (KS) in the Under-15 final after the Kansas side recorded a 2-1 win over Dallas Texans 00 Red (TX-N) on Saturday. Sporting KC was the beneficiary of an own goal that put it in the lead, but Brandon Cerda found the back of the net to pull the Texans even in the 26th minute. The Kansas side went down to 10 men early in the second half but did well to keep the game level for much of the remainder of regulation. In the 80th minute, Max Rugova scored what proved to be the game-winner for 10-man Sporting KC to give his side the 2-1 victory and punch its ticket to the title game.

A 1-0 win in Saturday’s semifinal matchup has FC Golden State White (CA-S) heading to the Under-18 final. The Cal South side knocked out CUP Gold 96/97 (OH-S), which was making its second straight appearance in the National semifinals. After a scoreless first half, Golden State’s Maicon Abreu netted a crucial opening goal in the 70th minute. Despite scoring the most goals of all Under-18 teams in group play, CUP couldn’t manage to net an equalizer in the final 20 minutes, and Golden State held on for the shutout win and booked its place in Sunday’s final.

The other Under-18 semifinal was just as close, as LVSA 97 Red (NV) defeated two-time national champion Fullerton Rangers 96 White (CA-S), 1-0, to advance to Sunday’s final. After a long throw in, Nolan Sherwood gathered the ball and finished to put LVSA up after 29 minutes of play. The Rangers came close to equalizing when they hit the crossbar in the second half, but LVSA kept the California side in check and came away with the victory. The Under-18 final will be a rematch of a game from the first day of play, when LVSA held off Golden State for a 2-1 win.

2015 US Youth Soccer National Championships | Semifinals

2015 US Youth Soccer National Championships | Finals Schedule

*Central Time, subject to change