Youth Soccer News: San Diego Surf SC Girls Roll through Cerritos Memorial Challenge Cup
The San Diego Surf SC GU10 Academy Select took top honors in the 2014 Cerritos Memorial Challenge Cup Girls U10 Nike Flight over the Memorial Day weekend. The team, coached by Mark Spooner, went undefeated against some of the top teams in California and the West in the three-day tournament.
“I’m very proud of what we achieved this weekend, more so in terms of development,” said Spooner following the championship match, “but it’s always nice to develop and win at the same time.”
The Cerritos Memorial Challenge Cup is considered to be one of the top Memorial Day tournaments in the country and draws teams from around the nation and internationally. While most of the teams in the GU10 Nike Flight came from Cal South, there were also sides from Nevada and Arizona in the mix.
Surf SC opened the weekend with a noon match on Saturday, May 24, against Real So Cal White, with Spooner’s girls earning a tight 1-0 victory. That afternoon the team continued their march to the title as they defeated Las Vegas Soccer Academy (LVSA) of Nevada by a 4-1 score. The two matches left the girls feeling confident in their abilities and their chances of taking the top spot in Bracket B.
Sunday morning Surf SC faced a strong Beach FC Perez team who had gone 1-1-0 (W-D-L) on the first day. After a back-and-forth battle, the two sides were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw. Next up for Surf SC were CDA Slammers Segovia, the final match of bracket and the chance to move on to the finals. Spooner’s girls took the game and their destiny in hand with a 3-1 victory and a ticket to the championship against CDA Slammers Alvarez.
Bracket A winners CDA Slammers Alvarez had posted a similar 3-1-0 record as they moved through the tournament. After opening with identical 4-0 wins over West Coast FC Gonzales and LA Premier FC (LAPFC) on Saturday, the Slammers continued with the same margin of victory over Eagles SC on Sunday. The only blemish came on Sunday afternoon when CCV Stars Black played them to a 1-1 draw.
On Memorial Day, Surf SC and Slammers met to decide the championship. Slammers got off to a quick start and led 1-0 at the half. But Surf SC battled back with two second-half goals to take the title. The team has now brought home trophies from the Surf Thanksgiving Tournament, Blues Cup, Mustang Stampede, Slammers Futbol Classic and the Cerritos Memorial Challenge Cup.
“It was a great way to open up the tournament season and a huge step in the right direction in terms of development for these young girls,” said Spooner after the final. “It’s rare you get to start the year facing many different styles in the first weekend and the girls have had to adapt quickly.”
“We started a little slow today against a very good Slammers team, but we overcame the adversity well and started to impose our game a little better in the second,” he explained. “I knew if we got the first goal in the second half we would go onto win and it proved that way. Coco seems to enjoy scoring comeback goals in finals against this team and just like her winning goal in Surf Cup, this was something special.”
Congratulations to San Diego Surf SC GU10 Academy Select and Coach Mark Spooner.
