Illinois sends five teams to national championships
Michigan and Kansas each send two
ROCKFORD, Illinois (June 25, 2008) – A driving rain and muddy fields added another competitor in today's US Youth Soccer Region II Championship finals as teams tried to focus on the task at hand and the chance to advance to the US Youth Soccer National Championships as one of the top four teams in the country.
What began as a 210 team field was narrowed to just 14 yesterday to set the stage for today's finals at Sportscore 2 Soccer Complex in Rockford, Illinois. These winners in the Under-14 through Under-19 age groups will take one of four places in the national championships.
2008 US Youth Soccer Region II (Midwest) Champions
Click here for 2008 Fair Play Award Winners...
BOYS
Under 13 (IL) ELGIN PUMAS
Under 14 (MI) GRAND RAPIDS CREW JRS
Under 15 (IL) CHICAGO FIRE JRS. RED
Under 16 (KY) JAVANON SC
Under 17 (OH-N) EVEREST SOCCER CLUB
Under 18 (MN) SHATTUCK-ST. MARYS
Under 19 (KS) KC WIZARDS JUNIORS
GIRLS
Under 13 (IN) CARMEL UNITED ACADEMY
Under 14 (NE) TORO BRAVO
Under 15 (KS) KCFC INTENSITY
Under 16 (IL) ECLIPSE SELECT
Under 17 (IL) ECLIPSE SELECT
Under 18 (IL) ECLIPSE SELECT
Under 19 (MI) BLOOMFIELD FORCE
Illinois' Eclipse Select sent several teams to the 2007 regional finals only to come away with second place finishes. This year the club was focused to again earn places in the finals and hoped to claim tickets to the national finals. Eclipse sent one boys team and three girls into today's finals with all three girls' teams winning the Region II Championship and the tickets to the national finals.
Kansas will send the Under-15 Girls KCFC Intensity and Under-19 Boys KC Wizards Juniors to Little Rock, Arkansas, site of the 2008 national championships, thanks to wins over Cleveland Futbol Club (OH-N) and Scott Gallagher (MO) respectively.
Eclipse Select entered today's Under-16 Girls final knowing that their tickets were already claimed for nationals after winning the inaugural US Youth Soccer National League this spring. The league is made up of top regional teams that compete against teams from across the country. Showing the passion to claim the regional title, Eclipse and Vardar (MI) met to determine the champion and a spirited contest followed as both opponents sought victory. After a scoreless game in regulation, Katie Uyenishi opened things up for Eclipse in the 89th who would go on to add two goals by Maggie Murnane in the 98th and 99th and claim the win (3:0) and regional crown.
Vardar will go on to represent the regional champion and Eclipse will go on to represent the league at the national championships in July. Chicago Fire Juniors Red Under-15 Boys also participated in the US Youth Soccer National League however they did not finish in the top two, top two teams move on to nationals, but did retain their slot for the 2008-2009 national league season. The league has added the Under-17 Boys and Girls divisions.
Under-19 Girls Force Football Club scored three goals to advance to their second consecutive regional championship. Force defeated KC College Select (3:1) to advance to nationals where they will look to defend their 2007 US Youth Soccer National Championship as Under-18 Girls.
In 2007 only the second boys' team advanced to nationals with NFC Bluejays Under-18 Boys. This year, Under-14 Girls Toro Bravo will be the first girl's team from Nebraska to win and advance to the national finals. Toro defeated Michigan Hawks 5-4 in penalty kicks after scoreless regulation and overtime periods.
Everest SC (OH-N) played Scott Gallagher (MO) and extra time was needed to determine a champion in Under-17 Boys as was the case for five of today's championships. Alejandro Garcia put Everest out front in the 27th but before the half Jared Gain evened the match in the 45th for Scott Gallagher. After overtime periods the score would remain and a shootout 4-3 victory gave Everest the ticket to nationals.
Showcasing the level of play in regionals, back-to-back regional champion FC Milwaukee Blue Under-18 Boys faced Shattuck-St. Marys for the regional crown. Knotted at zero after the first half, Akil Howard broke the tie for Shattuck in the 57th and teammate Teal Bunbury doubled the advantage in the 87th. The win ended the Blue's streak and provided
Look for more game information and quotes from today's games at http://championships.usyouthsoccer.org/regionII.
