Dozens of local teams traveled north to Albany, N.Y. to compete for the 2011 U.S Youth Soccer Region 1 President's Cup crown over the weekend. After the dust settled, one local squad came away with a title and the opportunity to play in the national finals in July.
Boys
In the Under-13 division, the FC Frederick Royals (Md.), VBSC Leesburg Lions (Va.) and Bethesda Athletico (Md.) represented our area. Athletico won their group to qualify for the semifinals, but they lost 8-0 to Garfield SC (N.J.). The Lions finished second in their group, defeating SC Bluewave (Conn.) and Steel Town Magic (Penn.), but just missed the semifinals based on points. The Royals put up a good fight, but were unable to move on to the semis after losing their group matches.
VAR Swoosh (Va.) and the Baltimore Bays Blues (Md.) finished one-two in their U-14 group to move on to the semifinals. The Blues defeated the FC Boston Azzurri (Mass.) 2-1, and Swoosh defeated PA Rush Nike 2-1 to move on to the final.
The two squads met again in the final, and once again Swoosh, who defeated the Blues 1-0 in preliminary play, bested the Blues by one goal to take home the championship.
FC Frederick Royal won their U-15 group, with VISTA Elite (Va.) right behind them in second. Both teams moved on to the semifinals, with the Royals defeating Valeo Futbol Club (Mass.) to move on to the championship. Elite, however, fell 3-0 to TBA New Jersey.
In the final, the New Jersey side shut out the Royals in a 4-0 win.
Reston FC (Va.) and Frederick FSCI Phoenix (Va.) finished second and third in their U-16 group. Reston finished the tournament with three wins and a tie, but did not move on to the final based on goal differential.
Waldorf United (Md.) was our region's sole representative in U-17 play, but they won their group after posting two wins and a tie to move on to the semifinals. However, there they were bested by the Port Chester Bengals (N.Y.), who won 3-1.
Girls
SSA Whirlwind (Ma.), ABGC Xtreme (Va.) and SSA Blink Magic (Md.) all contested the U-13 division. The Whirlwind and the Xtreme finished third and fourth in their group, both teams earning a tie and two losses over the weekend. The Magic also finished third in their group, with two ties and a loss formulating their record.
In the U-14 division, the Herndon Heat (Va.) and FC Frederick Royal (Md.) finished second and third in their respective groups. The Heat won two matches and picked up a loss, but just missed the semifinals based on goal differential. The Royal won one and lost two of their games.
MSC Rush (Md.) and Baltimore SC (Md.) both finished second in their respective groups with two wins and a loss. Both teams, however, failed to advance to the final after the VE Venom (Penn.) defeated Baltimore 4-2, and the Capital United Blue Warriors (N.Y.) bested the Rush 6-3.
Our sole representative in the U-16 division was the TSC Magic (Md.), who finished second in their group with two wins and one loss. They moved on to the semifinal, but lost to NEFC (Mass.) 1-0.
MSC Pride finished second in their group after winning three games and losing one in the U-17 division. However, they did not move on to the final despite their excellent performance, since only the top team in each group advanced.
