2011 US Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup Concludes in Iowa

By U.S. Youth Soccer

DES MOINES, Iowa – Eight teams went on to claim the 2011 US Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup titles Sunday, in the Under-14 through Under-17 boys and girls age groups, at the James W. Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines, Iowa. Five of the eight champions heralded from Region IV, while Region I claimed two championships and Region II one.

2011 National Presidents Cup Champions
Under-14 Girls United Futbol Club-White, Cal-South
Under-15 Girls KC Fusion – Cummings, Kansas
Under-16 Girls Super Nova Elite, Idaho
Under-17 Girls La Roca Premier, Utah
Under-14 Boys Corona Eagles, Cal-South
Under-15 Boys AVSC Ambush, Cal-South
Under-16 Boys Eagles FC United, Eastern-Penn
Under-17 Boys TSC FC Towamencin, Eastern-Penn

On day one of U-14 Boys play, SB Select 96/97 Club Mexico (S-TX) beat Corona Eagles (CA-S) on a pair of late goals. On finals day, Leobardo Bahena of the Corona Eagles scored in the 30th minute to give his team a 1-0 lead into halftime. Gustavo Chavez’s strike for Corona Eagles in the 47th minute sealed the 2-0 victory.

United Futbol Club White (CA-S) capped off the week with its fourth win in as many days, and a championship, as it triumphed 1-0 over Tri-State Premier (OH-S) in the U-14 Girls final. Danielle Tilton scored for United Futbol Club just one minute from the end of the first half, and her goal was all her team needed to raise the trophy on Sunday.

Next Level Soccer Academy (NJ) earned its way into the championship game with a big win on Saturday and faced an undefeated AVSC Ambush (CA-S) in the U-15 Boys final. After giving up an early goal, Tejan Walcott netted the equalizer for NLSA in the 7th minute. The rest of the game belonged to AVSC Ambush as they went on to win 6-1, highlighted by Andy Tenas Albeno’s double.

The final in the U-15 Girls bracket was a rematch of a day 3 draw between Premier FC Black (WA) and KC Fusion Cummings (KS). Ali Smith scored in the first five minutes and the last five minutes of the championship game to lift KC Fusion to the 2-0 victory.

U-16 Boys Eagles FC United (EPA) avenged an earlier 4-0 loss to Club America Blue (CA-S) on Sunday with a 3-to-2 win on finals day. With less than 20 minutes to play and the game tied at 2-2, Eagles FC United captain Peter Kemery beat the Club America keeper to give his team the 3-2 lead. That goal proved the game and tournament winner.

Super Nova Elite (ID) came into finals day having won all three U-16 preliminary matches. Albion Hurricane FC 95-G Blue (S-TX) was hoping for a different result against the familiar opponent. After no goals in regulation, Claire Goss and Amanda Jones each scored for Super Nova in the first period of extra time to claim the championship for their team with a 2-0 victory.

In the U-17 Boys bracket, TSC FC Towamencin (EPA) had given up only one goal all tournament, and that was to its finals day opponent PQ Premier (CA-S). TSC gave up no goals on Sunday and goals by Brian Zolot and Jacob Barlow in the 9th and 40th minutes lifted the team to the championship.

U-17 Girls champion La Roca Premier (UT) was used to playing with its back against the wall. It took late-game heroics at the regional tournament for this team to qualify for the National Presidents Cup and it needed a late result against Ajax FC Chicago (IL) on the final day of preliminary games for the chance to play for the championship. In a rematch of that game, La Roca was victorious Sunday with a 3-1 win over Ajax. Kassandra Anderson, Jaedyn Gochis and Gabby Valdez scored for La Roca in the win.