*  U-12 GIRLS BLACK/GOLD GO TOE-TO-TOE 

*  U-11 BOYS BLACK HANG TOUGH IN NAIL-BITER

*  U-10 BOYS BLACK ROMP TO U-11 LOP-SIDER

*  U-14 BOYS GOLD TURN TABLES ON RIVALS

The spotlight shone brightly on West Pines United teams during the just concluded FYSA Region A Cup Finals as a Region leading 4 (four) championships were captured by the club’s five competing teams. The head-to-head clash of our girls in the U-12 Division One championship game prevented any chance of a fifth title.

In a classic case of “Success breeds Success”, the Arturo Acosta coached U-11 boys set the pace for everyone else in the run for championship honors. Enjoying the better of play in the first half, the boys had forged ahead to a comfortable 2-0 lead over Weston and looked set to increase that margin at the re-start of play. The comfort zone however, was about to be seriously challenged as a recurring injury to a key defensive player forced the re-alignment of WPU’s line-up. The effect was immediately felt as Weston, sensing that Lady Luck had suddenly switched benches, proceeded to apply increasing pressure on the WPU defensive line. With a strong wind at their backs, Weston’s efforts were finally rewarded with a goal, cutting the deficit to one. Now on in earnest, the game suffered somewhat from the anxiety of players on both sides as the minutes ticked by. The final whistle signaled a sign of relief and wild celebrations for West Pines.

With little time to catch their breaths, West Pines supporters turned their attention to the adjacent field to witness club history in the making as our two U-12 Girls teams prepared to face off in a much anticipated showdown. They would not be disappointed. The girls provided enough excitement to fill a cardiac surgeon’s schedule for months to come. Pouncing early, the Patrick Chin led Golden girls took a 1-0 lead to the first water break. Unfazed by this development, the 2009 Division 1 champions of Richie Chin struck back in ferocious fashion, scoring three times to take a seemingly comfortable 3-1 advantage to the break, and most believing the game was essentially over for the Gold team. Apparently, no one shared this view with the girls in gold and, with a clash of heads side-lining the Black team’s ace striker minutes after the resumption of play, the girls went to work. Suddenly the score was 3-2, then level at 3 apiece and all looked lost for Richie Chin’s team repeating as Division 1 champions. The character of the team was displayed in all its glory however, as they managed to re-group in time to almost win the game in the last minute of regulation play. Twenty minutes of overtime failed to break the deadlock thus ensuring that the championship would be determined through the dreaded penalty shoot-out phase. Tired and nervous, the teams then took spectators through 8 rounds of penalty kicks (each team’s entire on-field line-up), to score 5 times from 16 attempts with Richie Chin’s Black deciding the outcome on the last kick before the teams would have had to start the penalty phase all over again. The loud exhaling of relief that followed could be heard for miles around. A game worthy to be called a classic was finally over.

Just South of the girls, another West Pines team was engaged in a great battle for championship honors. The U-14 Boys Gold squad, arguably the surprise team of the season to this point, was again head-to-head with arch-rival, Kendall Hammocks. Both teams had fought to a 1-1 stalemate in the earlier round and Kendall had recorded a penalty shoot-out championship victory over the Philip Brady led squad in last year’s Kick-Off Classic.

Determined to turn the tables this time around, the “Brady Bunch”  produced the improvement seen over the season to score the only goal of the game recorded. An apparent second goal scored by the team in the second half was disallowed by the game official. The boys’ disciplined approach to the disputed call served them well in repelling the desperate attempts by Kendall to find the equalizer late in the game. In the end the lone score proved sufficient in garnering the championship and a trip to the Presidents Cup. It was the first major championship for most members of this hard-working team.

With THREE champions crowned on day one, it was now up to our U-10 Boys Black team to provide the club with a clean sweep on the final day of the championship. The squad had already surpassed the expectations of pundits and, though it was now felt that they stood a chance to go “all the way” in the U-11 Division 2 final, no-one was prepared for the manner in which they accomplished this task.

It did not take long for the Bernard Guilloid coached squad to open the scoring against their older and bigger Soccer Paradise opponents. The cheering had barely subsided when a 4-player movement produced a magnificent second goal. The rout was in full swing. Two more strikes before the half increased the score to 4-0, effectively knocking the “Paradise” out of their opponents. Celebrations for a penalty awarded to Soccer P. shortly after the break were quickly silenced when West Pines substitutes showed they could also score when adding two more goals to the tally and the final score to a 6-1 romp.

On April 10 and 11, 2010, our U-11 Boys, U14 Boys and U-12 Girls’ teams will be representing Region A in the FYSA PRESIDENTS CUP at FYSA’s new 11-field Lake Myrtle Soccer Complex in Aurburndale, Central Florida. Also on those dates, our U-10 Boys will be traveling to Ft. Myers with Region A Finalist, Soccer Paradise, to compete against Region C’s two finalists for FYSA’a Division 11 Cup competition.

Enjoy pictures of some of our championship teams below!

Not Pictured: Yannick Blackman, Michael Reid

CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS REGION A CUP ARTICLE

It was stated in that article that our present Under-10 boys was the first U-10 team to make the Region A Cup Finals playing up an age group. WE WERE WRONG.  Our present Under-14 boys team, coached by Richard Jobson, achieved that distinction in 2005. They too went on to win the age group championship over Weston.