FRISCO, Texas (July 17, 2019) - North Texas Soccer side Sporting United 03 claimed the US Youth Soccer 16-Under Boys National Presidents Cup title on July 15 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Three additional North Texas teams competed in the national tournament, with 16-Under Girls Solar 03 Wells finishing in second place after falling in the finals via kicks from the mark, while 17-Under Boys Dallas Kicks 02 Selecao and 13-Under Girls Impact FC 06 Bertelsen finished in third place.
All four North Texas sides qualified for the National Presidents Cup after winning the Southern Presidents Cup title, which took place June 12-16 in Round Rock, Texas. You can find out more about that event here.
Age Group Recaps
13-Under Girls
2019 Southern Presidents Cup leading scorer Vivian Geesbreght got Impact FC off to a dream start with a goal in the first minute on day one of the National Presidents Cup. Real Colorado Olympico (CO) would respond with a goal in the 35th minute, and the match would ultimately end in a draw. Brooke Bowman would score for Impact in the second match against eventual champions Sporting STL Academy (MO), but Impact would fall 2-1. The North Texas side would be defeated 1-0 at the hands of Century V West (PA-W) on the third day of group play, but Impact would respond with a win via the same score in the consolation game, courtesy of Bowman’s second goal of the tournament.
16-Under Boys
Sporting United 03 would get off to a rough start at the National Presidents Cup after the North Texas side surrendered leads in its first two games against Heat FC 03 (NV) and Westside United FC Elite (IN) as Omar Munoz scored all three goals in the first two games. Sporting United secured a spot in the finals on the third day of play with a goal from Alexis Guevara and a pair from Damian Castorena. In the finals, Sporting United found itself in a 1-0 deficit against Heat FC before Castorena, Auden Quinonez and Alfredo Martinez all scored to put Sporting up 3-1. Heat would cut the lead to one with a goal in the 73rd minute, but just one minute later Guevara would net Sporting’s fourth and final goal as the North Texas side won 4-2.
16-Under Girls
Olivia Rueckert’s third-minute goal was the difference in a 1-0 Solar win over Crossfire Premier 03 (WA) on the first day of play. Solar would fall 2-0 to Three Rivers Rampage (MN) 2-0 on the second day, but Solar would rebound with a 1-0 win against Keystone FC Elite 2003 (PA-E) on day three courtesy of Faith Adje’s goal. In the finals, Shelbi Lafferty broke the scoreless stalemate in the 26th minute. Three Rivers would respond in the second half, and neither team would find the back of the net until kicks from the mark, which was ultimately won by Three Rivers.
17-Under Boys
Dallas Kicks 02 went down 1-0 to eventual champions Players SC Elite (NV) in the 26th minute, but goals from Mark Garcia and Shane Anderson propelled Kicks to a 2-1 win. Kicks would fall 4-1 on the second day of play to ZYSA 02 Green (IN). On day three, Quintel Cardona netted a hat trick to combine with a goal from Alejandro Herrera to defeat Union Spartans (NJ) 4-3. Kicks would earn a second straight win over Union SC in the consolation match as Cardona, Garcia, Giovanni Aguilar and Juan Delagado all scored in a 4-2 win.