Southern California Blues Soccer Club, a San Juan Capistrano based all girls soccer club, under 15 team claims national title at the Elite Clubs Natio
Southern California Blues Soccer Club, a San Juan Capistrano based all girls soccer club, under 15 team claims national title at the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) Finals this past weekend.
The team of 17 players coached by CYSA-South Hall of Fame Inductee Tad Bobak and Rob Rennie had an undefeated 2014-2015 season. This ultimately led them to the ECNL Finals where they played the best of the best teams from across the nation.
“The road to the ECNL Finals is one that many soccer players dream of traveling down, but few get the opportunity and even fewer make it the end,” says So Cal Blues General Manager, Dave Mildrew, “This journey required large amounts of dedication, determination and hard work. We are very proud of their accomplishment.”
The ECNL Finals in Richmond, VA is a tournament where the top 8 female soccer teams from across the nation compete for the national title in their age bracket. During the three preliminary games the So Cal Blues rose victorious after challenging battles against other top teams. Wins include victories over Real Colorado 2:0, West Coast FC 1:0, and Crossfire Premier 1:0. These three victories secured their spot in the Saturday finals versus the Michigan Hawks.
At the finals on Saturday, both teams battled hard, and thanks to a couple of point blank saves by So Cal Blues keeper Lauren Brzykcy, the team kept the score neutral at 0-0 going into the half, but that was where it stopped. Ten minutes into the second half, midfielder Ashley Soto took advantage of a corner kick by heading the ball into the Hawks net. Shortly after, defender Chloe Boice drove a shot into the net from outside the box to make the score 2-0. The third and final goal for the So Cal Blues was made by Sydney Duarte during a breakaway from a long clearance from keeper Brzykcy. In the final moments of the game the Hawks made a single goal to bring the final score to 3-1, and the So Cal Blues U15 being named number one in the nation.
The Southern California Blues U15 team is made up Emily Benner (#2), Chloe Boice (#9), Lauren Brzykcy (#11), Olivia De Moraees (#16), Madelyn Desiano (#13), Sydney Duarte (#18), Mahea Heimuli (#19), Illiana Hocking (#21), Penelope Hocking (#17), Sonja Kobayashi (#4), Kate O’Connor (#6), Hannah Prince (#12), Skylar Smith (#10), Ashley Soto (#8), Genevieve Watkins (#25), Kennedy Wesley (#22), Iyana Zimmerman (#3)
