NHB FC 2006 Cup—SWSC BU12

Back Row (L-R): Colin McCaughey, assistant coach, Ryan Freers, Moses Salem, Jeremiah Eastman-Speck, Connor Burns, Wade Hamilton, Zane Zamora, Zachary Bryan, C.J. Harrell
Front Row (L-R): Ivan Tolentino, Brian Charles, Tanner Nash, Brandon Morales, Kyle McCaughey, Zachary Manzani, and Alberto Mejia.

Southwest Soccer Club’s Boys Under-12 team made it two tournament championships in a row by wining their division at the North Huntington Beach Futbol Club Cup 2006 held over the Labor Day holiday weekend. The boys’ team lost their first match 2-1, but then reeled off four consecutive shutout victories to win their division championship. The team has moved up to the Silver division of play this season and has already established itself as competitive and successful at that level in tournament play.

The first match held on Saturday was against the CVSA Cyclone from Fresno, and SWSC was first to score on a goal by Connor Burns. The Cyclone came back with two goals late in the second half to take the victory. These were to be the only goals allowed by the SWSC boys’ defense for the rest of the tournament. The SWSC boys refocused their effort in the next few games and patiently hoped for a rematch with the Cyclone—a rematch that did occur in the Championship Final.

The boys next took on the OC Kings in the second Saturday game, a came away with a 2-0 victory. The two goals were scored by C.J. Harrell, one with an assist by Zachary Manzani, the other an assist by Ryan Freers. The third game was played on Sunday and pitted SWSC against a very good Wolfpack Blue team. SWSC went on to win 3-0 with the first two goals scored by C.J. Harrell, Connor Burns assisting, and a third goal by Zachary Manzani, assisted by Brandon Morales. The victory put SWSC in the semi-finals against the winner of Pool B, a strong Mt. Diablo Unity team that plays in the California North league.

Mt. Diablo Unity had cruised through the preliminaries 4-0, 3-0, and 4-0. They were very confident and created a great deal of “buzz” among the competing teams. The SWSC boys, however, stayed focused and did not buy into any of the pre-game hype. In what Assistant Coach Colin McCaughey said was their “best day of playing soccer this year,” the SWSC team came up big, not only winning, but shutting out Mt. Diablo Unity by a score of 2-0. Brian Charles set up C.J. Harrell with a beautiful pass that C.J. ripped passed the diving goalkeeper. SWSC’s second goal came on a perfect corner kick from Ryan Freers that allowed C.J. Harrell to head the ball into the goal.

The championship game became a showdown between SWSC and CVSA Cyclone. The SWSC boys came out a little sluggish and had to endure a great deal of offensive pressure during the first half of play. Still, the score remained 0-0 at half-time and SWSC did not allow a threatening shot on goal. In the second half the momentum turned against the Cyclone in terms of offensive pressure and SWSC dominated play. A foul was committed by a Cyclone player at the midfield line and Ryan Freers bombed a free kick over the defensive setup that C.J. Harrell took on one bounce and drilled into the second post net. SWSC squeezed the opponent defensively and held on to the 1-0 lead for the championship victory. Afterward, assistant coach Colin McCaughey said in a genuine sense, “This victory was a total team effort—every player did what they were asked to do. They are learning what it is like to truly play as a team.”