Two girls soccer teams from Clark County won championships on Sunday in the Virginia Mason Washington Youth Soccer Challenge Cup, earning berths in a regional tournament.
The Washington Timbers G98 Red team won the title in the under-14 Division 1 tournament by defeating their sister team, Washington Timbers G98 Blue, 1-0.
In Division 1 of the girls under-13 tournament, the FC Salmon Creek Nemesis 99 team won its title by beating a Washington Premier team 4-1.
By winning the Challenge Cup, both teams qualify to represent Washington at the Region IV Presidents Cup, June 12-16 in Boise. They will compete against teams from Idaho, Oregon, Hawaii, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Nevada and Alaska, with the regional champions advancing to the Presidents Cup nationals in July at Auburndale, Fla.
The Challenge Cup is the mid-level state tournament for competitive clubs staged by Washington Youth Soccer. The semifinals and finals were played on Saturday and Sunday at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila.
In Sunday’s under-13 final, Emma Cox and Courtney Cutter scored inside the first 10 minutes for FC Salmon Creek. Trinity Paulsen and Cutter added second-half goals to complete the championship run for a team that qualified for elimination play as a round-robin wild card after losing its first two tournament matches.
“This speaks volumes to the character of this team, and their will to believe and never give up is what makes me so proud,” Nemesis coach Tina Ellertson said.
Ellertson said the defensive effort from Cox, Bridget Monaghan, Dena Sabha, Alivia Quitugua, Sophie Landers and goalkeeper Jenna Talarico was top notch.
Sunday’s final match followed a dramatic semifinal victory on Saturday. Maddie Kemp scored with two minutes left in regulation for a 2-1 triumph over a Crossfire Premier team that had beaten Nemesis in the group phase of the tournament. Cox scored the first Nemesis goal in the 12th minute off a pass from Laura Schlueter on a play started by Whitney Watson.
Players for the Nemesis are: Allysse Adams, Cox, Cutter, Kemp, Landers, Monaghan, Paulsen, Abcdee Phillips, Quitugua, Carlee Reed, Sabha, Schlueter, Kendal Spencer, Talarico, Watson. and Kylee Yakimchick.
Details from the under-14 girls final between two Vancouver teams were not available.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Timbers Red beat Blackhills FC Black 1-0. Timbers Blue advanced on penalty kicks, 3-2, after playing to a scoreless draw with Harbor Premier.
Timbers Academy update
Players from Clark County contributed to a successful weekend for the Portland Timbers Academy teams against the San Jose Earthquakes Academy and Cal Odyssey. For the under-18 Timbers, James Nosack and Foster Langsdorf each scored twice as the team played to a 1-1 draw with San Jose and a 4-2 win over Cal Odyssey.
For the under-16 Timbers, Jacob Kempf and Niko De Vera each had two goals in 3-0 and 4-1 wins.
The Timbers Academy teams finish the 2012-13 regular season on June 1, hosting Seattle Sounders FC Academy at the Adidas Timbers Training Center in Beaverton.
