Club Tijuana Fuerzas Basicas team reaches final in U17 division
Club Tijuana Fuerzas Basicas team reaches final in U17 division
The 2016 San Diego Surf Cup is one of the most competitive youth soccer tournaments in America. The ‘Olders’ weekend just concluded yesterday with the crowning of the champions. The Surf Cup is a highly regarded tournament featuring some of the best youth clubs in the United States. More than 450 college and university scouts come to look at the young athletes in competition.
Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles competed in another San Diego Surf Cup tournament and reached the final in the U17 bracket.
The Xoloitzcuintles Fuerzas Basicas Under-17 team went on an unbeaten run in the Super Black category in the 2016 version of the internationally renown competition. The Under 17 team finished the tournament with a 1-0 loss to West Coast FC of Orange County in the title match Monday at the SoCal Sports Complex in Oceanside, Calif.
West Coast FC sent in the game winner via a penalty kick late in the match as the Xoloitzcuintles finished the tournament with four wins and the loss in the final. Kyle Carey converted the PK, sending it to the right of Club Tijuana goalkeeper Giovanni Hernandez.
Coach Gilberto Mora’s team beat Baltimore Bays (3-2), Arsenal FC (1-0) on Saturday and Seattle United (4-1) Sunday to reach the semifinals. The highly competitive youth soccer team then beat Strikers FC in that round (4-1) Monday morning to reach the title match against West Coast FC.
It was the third time a Club Tijuana youth team reached a Surf Cup final. The U15 and U16 teams won their respective brackets in 2014, the first time the Xoloitzcuintles participated in the competition.
Club Tijuana finished second in its group in the Super Black Under-16 competition this year, behind Albion SC of San Diego, the only team to beat the Xoloitzcuintles. Coached by Ignacio Ruvalcaba, the Under-16 team beat Fullerton Rangers (1-0), lost to Albion and beat Los Angeles United 3-1 in its final group stage.
Club Tijuana takes pride in competing in international tournaments such as the Surf Cup as it continues to add to its milestones worldwide.
Note: The 2016 soccerloco San Diego Surf Cup Tournament starts the new soccer year for US Youth Soccer’s Southern California region known as Cal South. Teams were placed according to the new year, birth year age groups for the 2016/2017 season for Boys and Girls in the U-10 through U-19 age groups.
