Sacramento reinforced its strong youth soccer reputation when two area club teams won national titles recently.
The San Juan Spirits '94 Blue became the first area team to win a U.S. Youth Soccer national championship, and the Placer United Prestige Gold '93 captured the U-15 Super Group in the U.S. Club Soccer National Cup VII finals.
San Juan won the USYS Under-14 title in Little Rock, Ark., beating the FC Stars of Massachusetts 2-0 in the championship game on goals by Kyla Booker of Vacaville and Alyssa Jara of Folsom. Jara also received the Golden Boot Award as the U-14s top offensive player, and goalie Katelyn Rowland of Vacaville earned the Golden Glove award.
"This team is stacked," said Spirits co-coach Tony Perez. "It had to be to compete at this level. But these girls, while still very young, were absolutely committed. … They were aware that they were doing something very special."
He said the girls will be either high school freshmen or sophomores this school year.
Lopez said Rowland and midfielder Haley Washburn of Folsom are in the U-14 U.S. Soccer National Team pool; midfielder Mandi McBroom of El Dorado Hills and midfielder Mireya Wathen-Mayorga of Elk Grove are in the Olympic Development Program regional pool; and Jara, Booker and defender Emily Duff of Elk Grove are state ODP players.
The USYS has held national championships since 1935 and at least four other area teams – the U-19 Elk Grove United girls (led by current U.S. National Team player Stephanie Cox) in 2003, the U-19 River City Rush boys in 2001, the U-17 San Juan Arsenal boys in 1998 and the U-16 San Juan Spirits of '72 girls in 1988 – lost in the national finals.
In the U.S. Club Soccer nationals, an event created in 2001, the Loomis-based Prestige beat the New Jersey state champion PDA Tsunami 4-3 on penalty kicks in Virginia Beach, Va. Savannah Coiner made the winning boot after goalie Mel Bertrand stopped a Tsunami PK attempt.
National champions, II
The Lady Magic, a team comprised mostly of players from the Sacramento area, won the Amateur Softball Association/USA Girls' 16-and-under Class-A fast-pitch national championship in Owensboro, Ky., last week.
The Lady Magic, which finished 8-0 in the 144-team tournament, beat the St. Louis Chaos 13-5 in the final.
The Lady Magic recovered from a 5-4 deficit in the fifth inning by scoring nine runs in the final two innings.
Cheyenne Cordes, who will be a sophomore next season at Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, led the way with two three-run home runs. Lindsey Ziegenhirt, an incoming senior at Sheldon, helped key the victory with two solo home runs.
"Normally, the best team in this tournament doesn't win," Lady Magic coach Jim Carda said. "But things went our way. We had the talent, coupled with the big breaks to help us."
Cordes batted .517 with five home runs in the tournament. Simone Heyward, an All-Metro first-team selection from Rosemont, hit a team-leading .535 in the tournament.
Other area members on the team included Ally Carda of Pleasant Grove, sisters Danielle and Jolene Henderson of Sheldon, Alyssa Schmidt of Whitney, Hayley Miles of Center, Jenessa Jeppesen of Oak Ridge, Katie Mathis of Bear River and Shelby Wisdom of Elk Grove.
Improving their stock
It's too early to tell where Ariel Thomas and Sara James will play women's college basketball, but the two improved their hoops reputations in the recent Summer City Tournament at Novato High School. The event featured 22 teams and nearly 300 girls.
Thomas, an All-Metro first-team selection from McClatchy, and James, a second-team All-Metro selection from Oak Ridge, were teammates on Just Believe Sports Purple, which lost to East Bay Xplosion 49-43 in the Black Division championship game.
Still, the two incoming juniors helped their team stay in the game. Thomas scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and James added 13 points and five rebounds in the championship loss before 40 college coaches who were on hand. Thomas and James are among the top 50 college prospects in Northern California, according to NorCalPreps.com.
In brief
Davis' Justin Hopkins, a member of the River City Rowing Club, helped the USA men's team to a bronze medal in the Junior Men's Eight-plus A in the FISA World Rowing Senior and Junior Championships July 22-27 in Linz-Ottensheim, Austria. A graduate of the Davis School for Independent Study, Hopkins will row for Washington in the fall.
• The Rocklin-based Youth Basketball Academy Dawgs 16-and-under Amateur Athletic Union team recently placed second in their division in the Nike-sponsored the Main Event in Las Vegas, beating teams from Wisconsin, San Antonio and northern Texas. The Dawgs tuned up for the tournament by playing the Chinese Junior National team in Rocklin.
• The California Breeze 16-and-under girls fast-pitch softball team won the ASA Western Nationals in Portland, Ore.