The Boulder County Force U18 Buffs girls soccer team, coached by Heather Solar and assisted by Jeff Thayer, took on the “best of the best” at San Diego’s Surf Cup August 1-3, 2009 and nearly won it all!
Seated fourth in the U19 Gold flight (Gotsoccer.com ranks the Surf Cup U19 Division the most competitive U19 tournament in the USA), the BCF girls took on nationally ranked teams. The first game of the tournament was against San Diego Surf Tanaka (CA South) on August 1, a team ranked 25th in the country. The BCF Buffs played them to a 2-2 tie with goals from Katie Miller (F) on the attack and Carys Murphy (D) off a Cassidy Larson corner kick. The BCF Buffs nearly stole the game in the final minute but was denied by the cross bar. The second game that day was against San Ramon SC Shock (CA North), a team ranked 39th in the country. Here the BCF Buffs demonstrated solid defense by Paige Banks, Maddie Barber, Deshae Gehr, Molly McGuigan, Ali Mullen, Carys Murphy, and Lexi Zumwalt. A beautiful goal by Cassidy Larson (F) in the second half, assisted by Carys Murphy (D), was enough to beat the Shock 1-0. The next game was on August 2 against NW Nationals 91 Red (WA). This team played extremely well against the other teams in the flight and we knew we had a challenge ahead. Again the BCF Buffs defense was solid, but so was the NW Nationals. The midfield with Kaitlin Anzalone, Anna Evans, Caitlin Higgins, and Janina Korba worked well together providing opportunities and pressuring the ball. The game ended with a 0-0 tie. Knowing we needed to tie or win to advance, we were satisfied with the outcome and came in second in our flight – just missing first by one point to the San Diego Surf who racked up 3 goals in their last game to get ahead of us.
The next day was the semifinal game against the top team in the other Gold flight, Laguna Hills Eclipse Black (CA South), ranked 40th in the country. This was a hard fought game with the momentum swinging between teams and at the end of the first half it was 0-0. In the second half, Laguna Hills scored early. Not long afterward, a sweet touch goal by Caitlin Higgins (MF) off of a Cassidy Larson (F) corner kick tied the game 1-1 and that was how it ended at regulation. It took until late in the second, 10-minute overtime period to seal the victory with a shot by Meghan Stuart (F) that bounced off the diving keepers hands and into the goal. Prior to the goal, the BCF Buffs were dominating the field and had several goal scoring opportunities orchestrated by Meghan Stuart (F) and Anna Evans (MF).
The championship game followed a few hours after the semifinals, and, with their 1-0 win over San Diego Surf Tanaka, the Sonoma County Alliance 92G (CAN), ranked 23rd in the country, were our opponents. The BCF Buffs opened the start of the game with immediate pressure that led to a goal by Cassidy Larson (F) in the first 10 minutes from a cross by Meghan Stuart (F). Sonoma County Alliance countered later in the first half to tie the score 1-1. Excellent goal keeping by Lexi Zumwalt all weekend continued into the finals with her making brilliant saves. As the game wore on both teams worked hard to maintain possession and pressure the ball. A 1-1 tie was the result at the end of regulation and a 10-minute overtime period commenced. After the BCF Buffs just missed on a corner kick opportunity, the Sonoma County Alliance countered and a long cross found the feet of their outside forward who slotted the ball in the side of the net concluding the game on the golden goal.
It was a great weekend for the U-18 BCF girls and, although disappointed about the championship loss, they are proud of their accomplishments and represented the club well in this prestigious tournament.
