All things considered it was a great tournament for the Southern California Blues Soccer Club over the turkey day weekend. All Blues teams with the exception of the mighty U10's were in attendance in San Diego. The U10 team continued to shine, however, even in lousy weather. Over the same weekend as the Surf Cup they competed in the Irvine Harvest Cup and were declared co-champions getting to the final which was cancelled due to Sunday 's rain.

Friday was a good day with respect to results for the Blues as believe it or not, the club's eight participating teams went undefeated in group play for the day putting the teams in great position for Saturday's all important determining games.

The U11 Blues advanced to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over the Blue Angels setting up a showdown with crosstown rival Mission Viejo. The U12 Blues, last year's tournament finalist, lost Saturday's game with the Rancho Santa Fe Attack by a score of 2-0, but advanced to the semifinal as a wild card having won first two games. The U13 Blues, last year's tournament finalist, cruised to victory and a place in the semifinals vs the host Surf U13 team. The U14 Blues bounced back from Saturday morning's loss to the host Surf U14 team and defeated the Abq United Magic 4-1. They failed in their bid to reach the semifinals as a wild card by one point. The U15 Blues went undefeated in group play by defeating a tough Clovis Heat team 3-0 setting up another Blues vs Surf confrontation in the semis. The U16 Blues, defending tournament champs, went undefeated into their semifinal with the Irvine Strikers. The U17 Blues played extremely well, tied two games and won their final game, but failed to advance falling short by two points. The U18 Blues also went undefeated in group play setting up another showdown with perennial rival CRSC Riptide, but may have had some of their attention on the sidelines where they were constantly under the watchful eyes of the many college scouts in attendance.

SEMIFINAL BLUES!

Sunday morning was a sight to see as the skies over San Diego opened up with rain, but not enough to keep the Surf Cup Semifinals and Finals from being played.

Walking towards the polo fields it was impressive to see six of eight Southern California Blues teams still alive and competing in semifinal play. Of course the teams were easy to pick out of the crowd with their distinctive lime green jerseys. It was an ocean of lime green and blue.

The ocean turned into a sea as two Blues teams were eliminated in the semifinals. The U11 Blues, who had fared well vs Mission Viejo in their last two meetings getting a win and a tie, never had a chance in this one. MV scored one goal early and scored one late to win the game 2-0 going onto the finals where they eventually won it all. The U15 Blues also had a tough time of it, giving it their all but falling short to what may be the best team in the state this year, the Surf U15. The Blues never seemed to get on track as the relentless Surf defense was able to constantly disrupt most of the attacks the Blues were able to put together. The Surf won the game 1-0 and went on to win the Surf Cup over Las Virgenes in the final.

The U12 Blues got to the final by defeating the Portland Metros 1-0 in overtime in an exciting finish. The team never seemed to capture the intensity it had in it's first two tournament matches and struggled in the final to get to half time at 0-0 with the threatening Rancho Santa Fe Attack. 15 minutes into the second half Rancho opened the score on a drive through and by the Blues defense. Throwing everything towards the opponents goal the Blues were left wide open in the back and committing some errors gave up three more goals to go down in the final by a score of 4-0.

The U13 Blues had an exciting semifinal game vs the host Surf. The Surf scored first in an even physical game and with little time remaining the Blues tied the game on a Sheena Jarvis goal to send the game into OT and then into PK's. Goalkeeper Staci Sinkway once again came through in the clutch when facing an eliminating kick she came up with the big save and eventually onto a victory in the PK contest. The finals were less exciting as the Blues yawned to a 5-1 win over a tired West U. Express from Texas.

The U16 Blues won their semifinal in tough crosstown rival match vs the Irvine Strikers by a score of 1-0 and went on to the final to play the Claremont Stars. In the final the Blues were paced by Ebony Stone who scored at least two goals and led the team to their second third consecutive Surf Championship by a score of 4-0.

Saving their best for last, the U18 Blues played some of the best and most exciting soccer one can see at the girl's youth level. The Blues defeated the CRSC Riptide 2-1 on a Michelle Bannister free kick to get to the final vs the host Surf in the U19 premier bracket.

Having come oh so close many times during their youth career, this was one championship which had eluded this particular Blues team, last year's state champions. They had been to the final on several occasions but had never prevailed. To make matters even more critical, this was the last chance the Blues seniors would have to show themselves to the hordes of college coaches who stayed for the final.

It was all on the line for these Blues girls and both teams came out swinging. The Surf preferred to stay back and counter and the Blues were up to the challenge throwing people into the attack. With 22 minutes left in the first half the Surf struck pay dirt on one of their counters as one of the Blues fullback turned the ball over in the defensive third. The Surf attacker got behind her with the ball and she was forced to tackle her in the penalty area and was awarded a penalty kick which the Surf converted for a 1-0 lead.

That was the end of the offensive highlights as the rest of the game belonged to the Blues. Sensing the one goal may be enough to win the Surf went into a defensive shell pulling eight and some times nine players back on defense. The Blues were determined not to give in and attacked feverishly in wave after wave. No luck, the half would end with the Surf on top by a score of 1-0 as the Blues crowd may have feared the worst, another defeat at the hands of the Surf.

The second half began much the same as the first half ended with the Surf entrenched in their goal and the Blues attacking relentlessly. The Blues moved the ball with incredible pace and beauty creating some great chances only to be turned away by a blocked shot or goalkeeper save.

With five minutes remaining it seemed the goal would never come as the Blues had their troubles with the stacked defense. All of a sudden from midfield one of the Blues attackers penetrated up the middle with the ball. Weaving by the first defender on her left, she passed by another on her right, another on her left, one more on her right only to find herself at the top of the Surf penalty area with only a slice of daylight to the goal. Michelle Bannister hit a left footed shot that swerved from left to right away from a sprawling goalkeeper and into the side net for the equalizing goal sending the game into overtime.

In overtime the Blues created several more chances to win the game but could not net the winner having one goal saved off the goal line. The girls had to take their victory in penalty kicks as all Blues shooters were perfect from the mark getting two big saves from GK Jenni Lee Branam.

Celebration followed but more importantly it was a great sight to see Blues seniors getting deserved recognition from college coaches as they conversed about possibilities of getting them to their schools all the way to the polo field parking lot which had become a mud bowl