18U Girls: Campton United (IL) 2-3 Sunrise Sting 2000 (FL)
The 18U Girls final was a rematch of a day two match between Campton United (IL) and Sunrise Sting 2000 (FL) that finished 1-0 in the favor of the team from Illinois.
Campton started as the aggressors and almost took the lead early in the half when Claudia Najera was pulled down in the box while chasing after a long ball from Rachael Lutter. The penalty was all for naught as the ensuing penalty kick rang off the left post. Campton took the lead in the 19th minute off great pressure on a Sunrise goalkick. Victoria Thornton headed the goal kick back towards the box and Saydie Holland touched the floating ball beyond a defender and then slotted her chance beyond the keeper. The first half was all Campton as they took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Campton increased its lead in the second half as some great 1-2 passing saw Hailey Rydberg play a pass to Hannah Rittenhouse behind the defense for a goal. The tide began to turn as Sunrise pulled one back in the 61st minute. Sunrise’s Samantha Wald swept in a ball rolling across the box to cut Campton’s lead to one. Time began to wind down but Sunrise’s Cydni Turner leveled the score in the 83rd minute. Turner was on the right end of a misplayed clearance by a defender. Turner spun and hit her shot from close range into the net to make it a 2-2 game.
As the last seconds began to tick off the clock, Sunrise’s Chloe Laureano headed a goal kick back towards the box and a misclearance bounced to Wald. Without looking up, Wald spun and hit a missile of a half-volley from the top right corner of the 18-yard-box it into the upper right corner to take the lead. Sunrise held off any attacks to finish with a 3-2 scoreline and become the 18U Girls National Champions.
