1998 STATE CUP BLUES NEWS
YOUNGER BLUES ENTER POOL PLAY!Younger Blues teams will all enter pool play for the 1998 CYSA-South State Championship on February 14, 15, and 16. The U10 and U11 Blues will both play their U11 group games at Cal State University in San Bernardino while the U12 and U13 Blues will play at the neighboring CYSA-South Soccer Complex.
Early favorites for the U11 State Championship have to be the MV U11 team who despite a few losses this year, has been the dominant team in the age group.
Pressure will be on the U12 Blues to three peat as State Champions, this season has seen a group of tough teams emerge in what is becoming an extremely competitive age group.
Pressure will also be on last season's State Cup Finalist U13 Blues to get back to the championship game. Most soccer pundits are picking these girls to go all the way but in soccer, especially youth soccer, the pressure of being the favorite can work against you.
One thing is for sure, maybe it is the color of the uniform but everyone wants to beat the Blues.
U10 & U11 BLUES GROUP PLAY!
The U10 Blues began the U11 weekend on a positive note winning one game by a 1-0 forfeit to the OSC Hotshots. Even though it rained hard the fields remained open for the next day of competition at Cal State San Bernardino. The U10's played the U10 LV Blazers and lost 1-0 to a good Blazer team with some future youth stars. Monday the Blues took on the CSC Spirit and needing only a tie to advance could not score a goal going down once again 1-0.
With out having scored a legitimate goal the logical assumption was that the season was over. But, as we have come to find out in this crazy wild mixed up world of youth soccer, nothing is over till it is over. At the midnight hour of a wild card birth no one knew anything about, the U10 Blues scrambled to find enough players to play in the knockout round. Coach Mary Naimie and manager Kip Thulin got 11 players to the game to take on the LBUSC Strikers. Unprepared for the game, the girls gave it all they had but it was not enough losing 2-0. This time the season truly had come to an end. It was a good season for the U10's who promise to be in the top group of next seasons true U11 teams.
The U11 Blues had a good weekend winning all three of their games at Cal State San Bernardino in convincing fashion and all the while playing creative Blues soccer. The schedule for the next round is currently being decided due to delays caused by wet weather.
Sunday March 1 the U11 Blues played their round of 32 game vs OCU Breakers at Cal State San Bernardino. With the Blues leading the game 1-0 at half time, the Blues broke the game open in midway through the second half with a Blake Zerboni goal and went on to win the game 3-0.
The Blues round of 16 game would be against crosstown rival West Coast Wave. In a fierce and physical battle that saw the Blues have the majority of the game, the Blues managed a 1-0 victory missing several chances to make it more. This set up the showdown between the ISC Strikers in the quarterfinals.
The U11 Blues gave it all they had but it was not enough to crack the physical Irvine Striker defense which gave the Blues little chance to score.
Midway through an even first half a hand ball call near the edge of the Blues penalty area proved to be important, especially at the U11 level. The shot was hard and difficult to handle and the Strikers took advantage of the rebound taking a 1-0 lead.
With the 1-0 lead going into the second half, the Strikers intelligently resorted to clearing balls far and wide or way out of bounds taking little risk in their own defensive third. These tactics made Blues U11 creativity very difficult to achieve, especially when Irvine scored a great goal on a fast counter before the Blues had a chance to react.
The 2-0 lead was too much to overcome and the Strikers deservedly went onto the semifinals where they lost to eventual U11 champion Mission Viejo.
U12 & U13 BLUES BEGIN GROUP PLAY!
The U12 Blues resume the rain delayed state cup play February 21 & 22. The Blues won their first game 3-1 vs LB Lightning on an outstanding performances by forward Kendall Holiday who had two assists and forward Lauren Winters who scored two goals.
The following weekend the Blues U12 had several opportunities to put away NHB leading the game by a narrow 1-0 score. The Blues were in complete control of the match but failed to cash in their opportunities. NHB scored a late goal and the game ended in a 1-1 draw forcing the Blues into a must win situation in their last group game with the Claremont Stars.
Needing a win to assure themselves of a chance to defend their state championship of a year ago, the U12 Blues came through in stunning fashion. With fullback Kimmy Vogl out with knee problems, Shannon Doersam slid over to Vogl's position and Chelsea Card stepped into the defensive line.
Both goalkeepers Jenna and Shayla Sabin made game saving plays on difficult 1 vs 1 situations while halfback Kim Horn stepped up and netted the winner with 15 minutes left in the game for the 1-0 victory.
Next on tap for the Blues is a difficult quarterfinal game vs Torrance United.
In what turned out to be a sloppy game due to the windy weather conditions, the U12 Blues managed to get just enough done to defeat Torrance United 1-0. The goal came on a Shannon Doersam free kick lofted behind the Torrance defense where Alise Corea slipped in behind them on the weak side to receive the ball and go in uncontested. She slotted the ball in for the first half lead which proved to be the difference. The Blues survived two scary second half wind blown shots thanks to a crossbar and a miraculous last minute save by goalkeeper Shayla Sabin. The win set up the semifinal showdown between the Blues and the Surf.
It had not been a good day for the Blues club which earlier in the day had seen their U13 representative eliminated from the state championship semifinals in sudden death penalty kicks.
Things got worse as the U12 Blues gathered for registration before their semifinal. As registrations took place, one of the Blues birth certificates was called into question. It needed to be an original and was only a registered copy with the hospital seal. The Blues argued their case but even with a week to produce the original prior to the scheduled state final, state cup officials would not allow Shannon Doersam to compete.
Amidst the unfortunate confusion the Blues put up a great fight and the Surf did what they had to do knocking off the defending champs 2-0. Midway through the half of an evenly played game the Surf scored from a poorly cleared ball by sending a cross back into the box that went into the goal. The Blues narrowly missed evening the game up when Kim Horn went one on one with the Surf keeper who got a hand on the shot to make the save.
The second half the Blues surged forward in numbers but were unable to score even though they had most of the play. Things got even bleaker when the Surf cleared a ball into the Blues half and attempting to play forward a Blues player played the ball off her teammate onto the feet of a Surf forward who took the opportunity well and made the score 2-0.
With time winding down the Blues appeared to have scored when Makenzie Beahm took a pass from Lauren Gipe on a free kick and hit a long high shot that went off the keeper's hands into the goal. No Goal! The assistant referee on that side said the goalkeeper had been fouled.
The Blues went down fighting. Even though their season had come to an end the progress they made promises to make them contenders the following season.
Leading their first state cup game 1-0 after 25 minutes, the U13 Blues will have to replay the entire game this weekend, February 21 & 22. Rumors have it rain will once again put a damper on state cup activities.
The U13 Blues managed to get their first game replayed and overwhelmed the Arsenal winning the game 6-0. Next on tap is a game vs OSC Stingers and it is anyone's guess when weather will allow state cup play to resume.
The sun finally came out! With their place in the next round secure, the Blues took on the the OSC Stingers to see which team would advance out of group in first place. The Stingers put in a great defensive performance while the Blues played with little inspiration in a dull performance for a 1-0 victory. Credit goes to the Stingers who came to play and should have probably tied the game in the second half with several near misses.
The Blues then moved on to the round of 16 against a wound up Del Mar Sharks team. The Sharks came out with tremendous energy and had the Blues scrambling. In their methodical way, the U13 Blues continued to insist on their rhythm until finally taking over the game and coming away with a 3-0 win to put them into the quarterfinals against coaching guru Scott Murray and his Las Virgenes Blazers.
The U13 Blues with their tremendous season are in a difficult position as the favorite to take the state cup. Every time they take the field the opponent comes charged and has little to lose. With everyone gunning for the Blues they need to stay alert!
Playing against a tough defense, U13 Blues attackers had a difficult time on a windy day against the Las Virgenes Blazers. The first half the game belonged to the Blazers who had the wind at their back. The Blues dodged three to four good chances as the Blazers played good soccer.
The second half was a turnaround as the game swung in the Blues favor. The Blues created three to four good chances of their own until halfback Stacey Mescher slipped in from the weak side and poked in a through ball with about three minutes left in the match to give the Blues a 1-0 win and a trip to the semifinals vs the SD Surf.
The Surf club became the Blues killers on the day as they eliminated both the U12 and U13 Blues from state championship contention. The U13 game started with the Surf in control as they scored an early goal on a defensive mistake near the Blues goal. The first half ended 1-0 in favor of the Surf as the Blues failed to capitalize on their chances.
The second half began much the same as the first half with the Surf having a bit more of the game than the Blues. Fifteen minutes into the second half the Surf scored on a long shot from outside to make the score 2-0. At that time the Blues began to press forward and five minutes later were awarded a timely penalty kick on a hand ball inside the Surf area which Sheena Jarvis converted to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Surf.
The remainder of the half was all Blues who created several chances and finally converted with a Shannon Munoz score to tie the game and send it into overtime.
The overtime was back and forth but neither team could score a goal sending the match into penalty kicks. The Blues had two clear chances to win the game in penalties but were unable to take advantage. The Surf finally got their chance on the eighth kick and scored for the victory and right to take on the Upland Celtic in the final.
Coach Tad Bobak felt that although the team suffered a painful defeat, we feel very good about ourselves with respect to the development we achieved as people and soccer players over the course of this successful year.
BACK TO BLUES NEWS