Mesquite, Nevada (1/17/2017)
On the final day of the Boys U13-U19 2017 RSL Presidents Cup, the teams were finally treated to some decent weather, for about 3 hours. Despite the challenging weather that plagued the entire weekend, the action never faltered and the games were always tremendous, speaking volumes about the quality of teams, players, and coaches at this year's event. The semi-finals and finals were no exception.
The games started at 8:00 am on 8 fields at 4 different locations as semi-finals for all 7 brackets were played in the morning before the finals began in the afternoon. It ended with one last kick on field 3 at the Mesquite Regional Sports and Event Complex.
Recap of the today's games:
Boys U13
SEMIS: Provo Athletic Club 04B Premier beat Forza FC West 04 PS 4-1 to continue their tournament run against Forza FC 04 JR who beat Wasatch SC 04B WS on penalties.
FINAL: In a rematch of the opening match of bracket play, a 1-1 draw, Provo Athletic Club put 3 past the Forza FC defense and cruised to a 3-0 victory and became the first 2017 RSL Presidents Cup Champions of the day.
Boys U14
SEMIS: L30 Gremio FC Premier B03 cruised to a 5-1 victory over Rampage Black 03 MS. Fire FC 03 Blue also won handily 3-0 against Sparta 03 DF.
FINALS: The finals featured a dominant defensive team in Fire FC who had only allowed 4 goals all tournament vs the red hot attack of L30 Gremio. Offense carried the day as L30 Gremio won 6-1. Despite not winning their bracket L30 Gremio finished undefeated and with an astonishing 12 goals for and only 2 against in 3 knockout rounds.
Boys U15
SEMIS: L30 Gremio FC Premier B02 beat Utah Surf 02 BH 3-0, while VKCOBRAS 2002 Mendez dealt with some adversity and won their semi-final on penalty kicks against Fire FC 02 Blue.
FINALS: In a tremendously hard fought final, VKCOBRAS came out victorious by scoring a last minute penalty kick, moments after Gremio had scored to even the match.
Boys U16
SEMIS: The U16 Semis featured two cleansheets as Fire FC 01 White and SCSL CV Aztecas 01 both kept shutouts against Provo Athletic Club 01B Alpha and La Roca S- CJ respectively.
FINALS: In a close match Fire FC came out on top 2-1, as Aztecas fought hard and made Fire FC earn the victory.
Boys U17
SEMIS: Swat United 00B DR/JO were able to hang on in their semifinal match against Fire FC 00 Blue and won 2-1 despite allowing a second half goal. L30 Gremio FC 00B won 2-0 against Infinity SC 00 JC to seal their place in the final.
FINALS: In a match featuring two teams from L30 Gremio came out on top in a back and forth game 3-2. SWAT and Gremio both played extremely well representing for L30.
Boys U18 Gold
SEMIS: In identical 2-1 scorelines, BE United 98 NB and Fire FC 98 Blue both advanced to the final after dispatching Utah FC 99B Black and United FC 99 KC respectively.
FINALS: Continuing with the 2-1 theme, Fire FC won by that scoreline in the final in a game that kept everyone on the edge of their seats with the even gameplay.
Boys U18 Silver
SEMIS: Cima FC purple beat BE United 99 JN 3-1 in their semi, while in the other match Fire FC 98 White beat Octane Futbol Club BU19/20 2-1.
FINALS: In another close finals Fire FC matched the other U18 bracket with a 2-1 victory of their own.
Congratulations to all of our champions, for the U13-U17 brackets this means representing Utah at Regional Presidents Cup in Salt Lake City this June. For the U18 brackets thank you for all of the memories and UYSA wishes you the best in your futures. To all of the other teams, thank you for participating in this year's RSL Presidents Cup, it was a whole lot of fun and we hope to see you again. Also a big thank you to all of our referees for the great work they did and to the trainers from TOSH, we wouldn't have been able to do it without you. Thank you all for another wonderful edition of the RSL Presidents Cup.