Two NorCal Sides Win US Club National Cup XVIII Titles
With several sides competing in US Club Soccer’s National Cup XVIII, two local clubs ended up lifting the trophy: Atletico Santa Rosa’s U19 Boys and Clovis Crossfire’s U19 Girls. The wins come after each side claimed State Cup titles earlier this spring and represented another chance for NorCal Premier Soccer to be seen on a national stage.
U19 Boys US Club National Cup XVIII Final
Atletico Santa Rosa Bayern 3 – LGN United (NY) 3 (Atletico win on kicks from the mark)
Despite going down 3-0 to a tough LGN United side, Atletico Santa Rosa never gave up and eventually drew the game level at 3-3. Alan Sanchez was the first to profit from Atletico’s fighting spirit as he scored to make the game 3-1 just before halftime. Victor Vargas then scored after the break before Sanchez hit the back of the net for the second time of the day to take the match to a dreaded penalty shootout. Each team scored their first five kicks from the mark before the match was ended in the eighth round of penalties as goalkeeper Charlie Janssen stopped the final LGN kick to help bring the Cup home to Northern California.
U19 Girls US Club National Cup XVIII Final
Clovis Crossfire 2 – FC Stars ECNL Comp (MA) 0
Despite losing a goalkeeper to injury, Clovis Crossfire dominated FC Stars ECNL Comp thoroughly throughout the match to eventually lift the National Cup. Just 14 minutes into the game, Madilyn Hernandez put Clovis up by rifling a shot into the upper corner to give the NorCal side a 1-0 advantage at the break. By that time, the Crossfire were already up a player after an FC Stars attacker was shown red for colliding with the Clovis goalkeeper, forcing midfielder Nia Scanlan to play between the sticks for most of the match. Scanlan proved herself able and made several saves before Luna Pelayo put the game away in the 70th minute with a left-footed strike.
After a summer full of various US Club Soccer tournaments that NorCal Premier Soccer teams have played well in, the final one starts this Friday as the National Cup XVIII Nationals kick off at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver, Colorado. Each team in the competition will face a four-day test just to make it to the finals of the National Cup.
Overall, eight NorCal sides qualified for the Super Group of the tournament. Five of those teams, U16B Heritage SC, U16G Central California Soccer Alliance, U19B California Odyssey, U19B Atletico Santa Rosa, and U19G Clovis Crossfire made it to this stage by virtue of State Cup wins.
For more information about the event, click here.
Heritage SC 03B
Central California Soccer Alliance 03G
California Odyssey 02B (01)
Clovis Crossfire 01G
Atletico Santa Rosa Bayern 01B
U19 Boys State Cup Finals: Recap
