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State Cup soccer preview for girls divisions U11-U13. Games begin Friday.
U 11 girls
Scottsdale 99 Blackhawks (Bye in first round) – Coach Kevin Mearse led the Scottsdale 99 Blackhawks to first place in the 2010 del sol Desert Classic and the 2009 TSA Champions. They finished first in Division I State League.
DFSC ’99 Desert Elite Red – Coach Noel Clarkson led the DFSC ’99s on a nine-game winning streak and an eighth-place finish in Division I of the Arizona State League.
In addition, the girls brought home championship medals from the Kick for the Cure Tournament. They scored 13 goals in the four tournament games.
FC Barcelona ’99 - Coach Jimmy Deutsch, who is also the director of coaching for the FC Barcelona club, led the ’99 girls to a first-place finish in the 2009 Ahwatukee Foothills Soccer Fest. The girls went undefeated, with shutouts in all four games, going to penalty kicks in the championship game to win the tournament. They finished third in Arizona State League Division II.
Gilbert Arsenal ’99 Premier - Coach Gene Warne led the ’99 Arsenal Premier to a fourth-place finish in Arizona State League Division I.
“This year we really worked on our first touch and learning to gel as a team,” said Warne. “We are really starting to master the basics and it can only get better from here.”
Flagstaff United ’99 – Holly Jones has coached the ’99 Flagstaff United girls for the last two years. In the 2009-2010 season, she led them to a fourth-place finish at the Soccer at the Summit tournament, a first-place finish at the Christmas Angel Tournament and second in the San Tan Holiday Classic. The girls registered with the AYSA Fall Open League and placed fifth, improving to third in Spring League.
“Even when the girls lose a game, they hold their heads high and move on to the next event,” team manager Donna Falz said. “They work hard to learn from their mistakes with the teachings of their coaches.”
Gilbert Arsenal ’99 Select – The ’99 Arsenal was a finalist in the TSA tournament Silver Bracket and played in Arizona State League’s Second Division for both seasons.
“What I really like about this team is its perseverance,” first-year coach Matt Smith said. “The girls have worked hard all year to improve as individuals and as a team. We are definitely an underdog in this tournament, but we might very well surprise someone who is confident that they will beat us.”
They finished seventh in Arizona State League Division II for the Spring season.
Sereno ’99 White – Sereno was the 2010 Ostrich Festival Champions, the 2010 Sereno Classic Champions and the 2009 Sereno Pro Classic Champions.
Coach Paul Lester led them to a second-place finish in the Spring season of Arizona State League Division I.
Scottsdale Blackhawks Black 2 – Coach Laila Modi led the Scottsdale Blackhawks Black 2 to a first-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division II.
9Alliance FC ’99 – Coach Mark Wilson led the Alliance FC ’99 to a second-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division II.
Sereno South 99 White (Bye in first round) – Coach Barry Van Patten led the Sereno South ’99 White to a third-place finish in the spring league of the Arizona State League Division I.
SC del Sol ’99 Evans – Coach Matt Evans led the SC del Sol ’99 girls to a sixth place finish in the Arizona State League Division I.
U12 Girls
San Tan ’98 Legacy Red – Coach Brett Meskill led the San Tan ’99 Legacy Red to a first- place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I.
SC del Sol ’98 Evans – Coach Matt Evans led he SC del Sol ’98s to an eighth-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I
Cisco Fire – Coach Tony Perez led the Cisco Fire to a fourth-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division II.
“The majority of our team has been together for four years,” said Perez. “And that is what we built our team around. They are great athletes and fun to be around.”
Gilbert ’98 Premier – Coach Scott Alderson led the Gilbert ’98 Premier to a first-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division II. They were also finalists in the TSA Tournament.
“These are really great girls to be around,” Alderson said. “I have really enjoyed coaching them for the last three years.”
Banat ’98 – Coach Mark Leicester lead the Banat ’98s to a gold in the CCV Sport Medicine Tournament, third place in the 2009 State Cup and fifth in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I.
CDO Storm – The CDO Storm finished second in Fall season of the Arizona State League II, giving up only three goals in seven games. They finished second in the Spring season and have been promoted to State League I for Fall 2010. CDO Storm has only existed for 18 months and is from Oro Valley, located on the northwest side of Tucson.
“The team has fast-tracked to higher levels of competition, a great achievement by the girls and a measure of their improvement, as there is a comparatively small player pool to draw from (in Tucson),” coach Steve Wallace said. “I have coached them for almost two seasons now, and they are a special team because of their togetherness.”
Recently one of the ’98 girls was injured in a car crash on the way to practice, and Wallace said the other players all wore band aids on their pinkie finger with ‘Molly’ written on them during a tournament.
“It was so she could be on the field with them in some way while she recovers,” Wallace said. “They have real chemistry.”
Sereno ’98 White (Bye in first round) – Under coach Matt Midkiff , Sereno finished second in Arizona League Division I, won the Eagles Spring Classic champions, was second in State League, a semifinalist in the Presidents Day Classic, champions of the Sereno Soccer Classic and champions of the Pros Thanksgiving Tournament.
Flagstaff United ’98 – Coach Holly Jones led the Flagstaff United girls to a seventh-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I.
CCV Stars ’98 Black – “At CCV we teach the five fundamentals of soccer: technical, tactical, psychological, physical and heart,” said Rafael Rios, coach of the CCV Stars ’98 Black and coach at Xavier. “These girls really embody the heart aspect of the game.”
This is the ’98s second year playing competitive, and are a team of neighborhood kids that Rios said also embodies what the Stars club stands for: striving to achieve real significance.
“They are very open and accept all types of people,” Rios said. “They are very welcoming and a pleasure to coach.”
Scottsdale ’98 Blackhawks Black –Coach Jeff Hulseweh led the Scottsdale ’98 Blackhawks to third place in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I.
Ahwatukee ’98 White – “All the girls love to have fun, and they have great team chemistry,” said Ahwatukee ’98 White coach Alec Gefrides. “They work hard, but soccer isn’t a job for them.”
The team played in six tournaments this season, ending up in four finals. They played through adversity when goalie Mackenzie Saunders was paralyzed while playing.
“She is an amazing girl, and comes to a lot of our games,” Gefrides said. “We hope to represent her well.”
Assistant coach Alissa Oldenkamp, a former Sereno and ASU player, helped Gefrides lead the team to a sixth-place finish in the Arizona State League Division I.
“Alissa is a great coach and the girls are lucky to have such a role model to look up to,” Gefrides said.
’98 Thunder Gold – “98’ Thunder gold has been an awesome experience because of their unity and dedication to this sport,” said coach Beny Sanchez. “I have taken a lot of pride in these girls because we have worked really hard the last two years on their development, concentrating on their first touch and possession of the ball.”
The team’s hard work paid off last year with an Arizona Open Cup Championship.
“In our first year of state league our girls have played fantastic and have finished fourth the first season and tied for third the second season,” Sanchez said. “We are very excited for this upcoming State Cup and have been preparing really hard to give our best performance.”
U13 Girls
Sereno ’97 White – The Sereno ’97 White were the 2010 Sereno Classic Champions 2010, and coach Matt Midkiff led the team to a first-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State Division I.
TSA ’97 Red – Coach Ryan Ringdahl led the TSA ’97 Red to an eighth-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I.
Gilbert Arsenal 97 Premier – Coach Casey Tate led the Gilbert Arsenal ’97 Premier to a fourth place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I, a semi-final finish in the Las Vegas Mayors Cup, a second place finish in the California Spring Cup and the Sereno Pro Classic, and a gold in the Tempe Pros Thanksgiving Day Tournament.
“This team is a special team because of the family atmosphere,” Tate said. “The girls are a big family and are there for each other. They are a fun, hard working group who are very aggressive and intense. They want to do their best in whatever they are doing.”
CDO ’97 Pumas – The CDO Pumas have had a whirlwind two years, going from a non-competitive neighborhood team to the only member of the CDO club in the Division I State League.
“The girls are very humble, and relaxed, and gritty,” said coach Bill Block. “The chemistry on the team is wonderful, and they truly work hard.”
The girls won the 2010 Pima Cup, the TSA Tournament, and the Ahwatukee Soccerfest. They were the State League Division II Champions in the Fall season.
“We are excited for State Cup because we get to compete,” Block said. “We will learn things in losses that we could never learn in winning.”
CCV Stars ’97 Black – Coach Johnny Neafus led the CCV Stars ’97 Black to a sixth place finish in the spring season of the Arizona State League Division II.
San Tan ’97 Legacy Red – Coach Kevin Boyd led the San Tan ’97 Legacy Red to a second place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division I, finishing the regular season with nine straight wins the include two tournament championships since the end of February.
“As a team we’re still continuing to get better and play the type of possession soccer we’re striving for, but there is still room to continue our progression and be dangerous come State Cup,” Boyd said.
Sereno South ’97 White – Coach Davey Lopez led the Sereno South ’97 White to a second-place finish in the Arizona State League Division II.
Sereno 97 Blue – Coach Peter Orona led the Sereno ’97 Blue to a third-place finish in the Spring season of the Arizona State League Division II. The girls also were the Gilbert Tournament Champions, and TSA Runners-up.
“This team returned eight players from last year’s roster. Some players were promoted to our white team and we have added new players that contributed to helping the team be successful,” Orona said. “The core players that returned make up the character and personalities of this team and will be the leadership that help the team go deep into state cup.”
As a blue team, Orona said it is difficult to build for future, but still believes that the girls will do well in State Cup.
“The team has the ability character to make it happen,” he said. “The girls have recently starting seeing its success coming with a tournament win at the Gilbert Challenge and are on track to have a good showing in the state tournament.”
Scottsdale ’97 Blackhawks Black – Chris Brown’s Blackhawks finished third in Arizona State League Division I
Banat ’97 – Coach Rick Kelsey led the Banat ’97 girls through a tough year to a fifth- place in the Arizona State League Division II.
“We had a lot of injuries this season,” Kelsey said. “At one point we only had 10 players healthy and ready to play.”
Still, he said the girls will come into State Cup ready.
“We hope to get a few wins under our belt,” he said. “We are really looking to execute the things we practiced and really perform.” |
