Paco Thomas of Vancouver scored two goals on Saturday, helping Spartans Futbol Club win the Oregon Premier Soccer League men’s championship by beating Kells FC Swoosh 4-0 in the title match at Buckman Field in Portland.
Spartans scored three goals over the final seven minutes of the first half. Mone Hernandez struck for the first goal in the 38th minute. Thomas made it 2-0 in the 41st minute, and Victor Garcia made it 3-0 moments before halftime.
Thomas scored again in the second half, with an assist from Vancouver resident Sergio Medel.
Spartans FC is a Vancouver-based club that formed a year ago.
Club founder Gary Allen estimated that some 400 fans attended Saturday’s match, with Spartans enjoying much of the support.
In 2014, Spartans FC will field a team in the National Premier Soccer League. The NPSL is a men’s professional league in the fourth-tier of the U.S. Soccer Federation pyramid.
Allen said the club would play as an amateur team in 2014 to maintain college eligibility for some of its players. It plans to play home games in 2014 at Concordia University in Portland, but that the club will seek a permanent home in Vancouver.
Tryouts for Spartans FC 2014 men’s teams will be held 7-10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at Buckman Field. The club will field teams in both the NPSL and OPSL. Cost is $25 in advance. To learn more, visit http://spartansfutbolclub.com online.
Equestrian team debuts
Hannah McDonald earned first place in three events to highlight the first meet of the season for a new high school equestrian team.
Vancouver United is a new member of Washington High School Equestrian Teams, the organization that stages competitions around the state.
Vancouver United includes students who attend Columbia River, Fort Vancouver and Skyview high schools.
McDonald won the showmanship, working rancher and reining events.
The first meet for District 4 was held Saturday and Sunday in Spanaway. Vancouver United results are listed in the Community Sports Scoreboard.
Prep hockey team advances
Team Gaustad, which includes players from Clark County, opened the Winterhawks Varsity Hockey League playoffs on Sunday with a 5-3 win over Team Deadmarsh.
Union High School students Alex Stoneham and Jeffrey Anderson scored goals, and Jimmy Scott of Union and Austin Martin of Hockinson played significant minutes on defense. Stoneham scored two goals and Anderson one.
The team’s next playoff game is at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Winterhawks Skating Center in Beaverton. Team Gaustad includes players from Southwest Washington and north Portland schools.
Lakewood club wins boys volleyball tourney
South Sound Volleyball Club of Lakewood defeated ABC Apollo of Portland in the championship match of a boys volleyball tournament played on Sunday at Evergreen High School.
More than 80 boys from Washington and Oregon played in the tournament, and in a clinic hosted by Mik Berzins, a former all-America player at Ohio State who is an assistant coach at Oregon State.
The next Columbia Empire Volleyball Association tournament will take place on March 15 at Huntington Middle School in Kelso.
To register, or to learn more, visit www.cevaregion.org online.
Vancouver-based NW Volleyball Academy plans to field boys teams in the ages 12, 14 and 16 divisions.
More information is available at www.nwvolleyballacademy.com online.
Half marathon results listed
Complete results of the Vancouver Lake Half Marathon are in the Community Sports Scoreboard.
Jesse McChesney of Vancouver won the 13.1-mile race with a time of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 44 seconds, leading a strong field of local runners to the finish line.
Susie Scott of Portland was the first woman to finish. She finished 12th overall with a time of 1:24:45. A story and photos about the race were published in The Columbian on Monday.
A total of 391 runners and walkers completed the 24th edition of the Clark County Running Club event.
This week’s Little League registration
Many area Little Leagues are wrapping up the registration process for their 2014 spring season.
Listed below are in-person sign-up opportunities between Jan. 28 and Feb. 4. Most — but not all — Little Leagues offer online registration.
A player’s league is determined by where the player lives. Interactive maps showing league boundaries can be found on the district and league websites listed below.
An interactive league finder is available at http://www.littleleaguewa.org/findyourleague online.
Each league sets its own fees.
Columbia Little League — 6-8 p.m. Jan. 29 at David Douglas Park; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 1 at David Douglas Park.
Columbia Girls Softball League — 6-8 p.m. Jan. 29 at David Douglas Park; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 1 at David Douglas Park. Columbia Girls Softball League encompasses the boundaries of Central Vancouver, Fort Vancouver and Columbia Little Leagues.
Evergreen Little League — 6-8 p.m. on Jan. 29 at Pied Piper Pizza, 12300 N.E. Fourth Plain Rd.
Baseball clinic slated
A baseball hitting clinic featuring Oregon State coaches Aaron Mathews and Dylan Jones is scheduled on Feb. 9 in Vancouver. There is a session for ages 9-12 from 10 a.m. to noon, and a session for ages 13 and older from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Cost to participate is $60.
To register or learn more, visit www.thestadiumnw.com online.
COMMUNITY SPORTS NEWS is published each Tuesday. Submit items by calling 360-735-4521 or by sending email to paul.danzer@columbian.com.
