Local girls soccer teams win Cup titles

EDITOR NOTE: This article has been edited to correct details about the Salmon Creek Copas girls under-13 team.

Two girls soccer teams from Southwest Washington won championships on Sunday as the Washington Youth Soccer Founders Cup tournament that concluded in Tukwila.

The Salmon Creek Select Copas won the girls under-13 title. The Washington Soccer Academy Strikers won the girls under-18 championship. The WSA is the advanced-competition club serving Camas and Washougal.

One area team lost in the Founders Cup finals. In the boys under-19 division, WSA United lost to the Federal Way FC Braves, 4-1.

The Founders Cup is the Washington Youth Soccer state tournament for developmental-level teams.

The Salmon Creek Select Copas girls beat the Mercer Island FC Force, 1-0, in Sunday’s championship match. McCall Danis scored the goal.

In Saturday’s semifinal match, Salmon Creek beat the FC Edmonds Strikers 4-2. In that match, Elizabeth Sheldon scored two goals and Brienne Pfeifer and Emma Cox each scored once.

The Copas went unbeaten in the tournament. They shut out their opponents during round-robin play. In the elimination phase, the Copas outscored their four opponents 14-4.

Members of the champion Copas team are Julia Bradford-Latshaw, Megan Bruns, Cox, Danis, Amy Fraizer, MacKenzie Haverlack, Jessica Houghton, Samantha Martinez, Megan McDaid-O’Neill, Sierra Nerton, Pfeifer, Sheldon, Camilla Stratton, Nikki Willson, Mikaela Winston and Morgan Winston. The head coach is Matt Houghton. The assistant coaches are Michael Bruns and Steve Douglas.

In the girls under-18 final, the WSA Strikers beat South Kitsap United 3-1. McKenzie Good and Mika Norrish scored in the first half and Ashley Sturza scored midway through the second half.

Playing for the Strikers were: Rebecca Dallasta, Alex Dombek, Alyse Erickson, Lauren Gavett, Good, Claire Goss, Brittany Hickey, Jessica Kelley, Amanda Kern, Kaitlyn Langdale, Merisa LaPier, Courtney Loewen, Emily McCracken, Norrish, Cait Pudlitzke, Jen Rathgeber, Tori Slaven and Ashley Sturza. The coach was Van Every. The team manager was Gina Pudlitzke.

The championship caps a successful run for this WSA group. Among their accomplishments were these championships: 2005 GU-12 Chinook Cup, 2006 GU-13 Waterfront, 2007 GU-13 Commissioner’s Cup, 2008 GU-14 Beaverton Cup, 2009 GU-15 OYSA Classic Winter League, 2009 GU-15 Clash at the Border, 2011 GU-17 Clash at the Border, and the 2011 GU-17 Cowlitz Kickoff.

In the boys under-19 Founders’ Cup finals, the Federal Way United Ravens beat the WSA United 4-1.

Players for United were: Reed Carlson, Guillermo Castro, Blake Dufault, Hernan Guerrero, Kenneth Hall, Jonathan Hua, Justin Kempf, Jordan LeBle, Josh Lindstrom, Cole Lubbers, Colin Neil, Delaney O’Haver, Igor Shapoval, Brendan Shaw, Jeremiah Thompson, Austin Zinda.

The WSA Xtreme lost to eventual champion Crossfire Select (Reynolds) 2-0 in a boys under-16 Founders Cup semifinal on Saturday.

While the Founders Cup wrapped up over the weekend, play continued in the Challenge Cup and the WYS Championship Cup tournaments. The Championship tournament is for the most competitive teams, and determines the state’s representatives in the Far West regionals. The Challenge Cup is for highly-competitive teams that do not wish to play beyond the state level.

In the Challenge Cup, three Southwest Washington Youth Soccer Association teams won quarterfinal matches over the weekend. The Pacific FC Fire teams in the boys under-19 and boys under-16 tournaments advanced to the Feb. 25 semifinals, as did the Vancouver United Northstar in the boys under-17 division.

In the boys under-19 quarterfinals, Pacific FC beat the host Issaquah SC Arsenal, 4-2. Goals for the Fire were scored by Marc Crinnon, Nick Van Veen, Jake Gulliford and Joey Semro.

Three consecutive goals after halftime made the difference. Van Veen’s flick header off a long throw-in broke a 1-1 tie, and Semro’s rebound goal from a Ben Mofford chance sealed the win.

The Fire will play Seattle United Copa in the boys under-19 semifinals on Feb. 25 at the Starfire complex in Tukwila.

In the boys under-17 Challenge Cup, VUSA Northstar advanced with a 2-1 win over Federal Way FC. Details were not reported from that match.

In the boys under-16 Challenge Cup, the Pacific FC Fire advanced to the semifinals with a 4-2 win over UPSC Thunder on Sunday at Jason Lee Middle School in Vancouver. Reed Wortman scored two goals, and Phillipe Mattos and Joseph Hernandez one apiece.

In Championship Cup play, the Eastside FC Red eliminated the VUSA Timbers Red boys under-18 team with a 4-1 result.