State Cup Recap

The 2011 MYSA State Cup is officially in the books and the Springfield SC has officially had its most successful cup EVER!!! The Springfield SC is once again the only soccer club from southwest Missouri to advance out of the group stages, and of course to win a State Cup with our 3rd Championship this year.

The Missouri State Cup is the first leg of the US Youth National Championship Series and consists of ages u13-19. SSC has the following teams taking part: u13, u14, u15, u16, u17, u18 boys and u15 girls. Below is a recap of the 2011 MYSA State Cup for the Springfield SC.

U13 boys went 1-2 in their first participation in the State Cup. They got off to a wonderful start by winning their first game, but ran into some unfortunate luck in their next 2 games. They competed very well and gave a good account of themselves and the club. They already have a more intense hunger for next year!

U14 boys went 2-0 in their group games scoring 7 and giving up only 1. They won their Quarterfinal game 2-0 to become only the 2nd u14 team to make it into the Semifinal stage. They were very unlucky to not advance into the finals, but they fought extremely hard and really gave a great account of themselves, and the Club. They are already eagerly looking forward to next year’s event!

U15 boys went 1-0-1 and won their group. They won their Quarterfinal game and drew the reigning Champion in their Semifinal match-up. The boys fought very hard in that game and were very close to getting into the Finals with a goal not coming until 10 minutes left in the game (after SSC hitting a post!). The Semifinals is the furthest these boys have advanced as well.

U15 girls went 1-1 in their first experience at State Cup. They drew the 2 time defending State Champion in their first game. After a nervy start, they came on strong and put up a good fight coming close to tying the game before giving up a 2nd goal while pushing forward. They dominated in their 2nd game and won easily. They are looking forward to getting back here and showing even stronger next year.

U16 boys won their group with a 3-0 start. They scored 12 goals giving up 1 and are in the Semifinals for the 4th year in a row. After winning the Semifinal, the 16 boys faced a very tough Billy Goat team in the Final. It was the first Final for both teams, and a rarity to have 2 teams from outside St. Louis competing for a State Championship. A testament
to the growth of soccer in the state of Missouri. Billy Goat score first on a PK, before the boys were able to tie it up going into half. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, a red card was shown and SSC was forced to score the game winner a man down. In the end, the boys came out victorious to claim the club’s 3rd State Championship. They now head to Green Bay, Wisconsin for the Midwest Regional Championships. Good luck!!

U17 boys won both games scoring 7 goals and giving up 0. They cruised through the Quarterfinals against Lou Fusz Gregory with a 3-0 victory. The boys were now in their first Semifinal game, and it was a tough one. It was a very even, hard fought game that went into OT. SSC scored right out of the gate, but SLSG tied it in extra time of the first OT. SLSG then scored first in the 2nd half of OT, with SSC scoring just after and narrowly missing a couple of chances to take the lead. So PK’s ensued and SSC came out on the wrong end of a 4-2 score. The boys really did a very good job and should be proud of their efforts.

U18 boys also won both game to advance to the Quarterfinals where they faced longtime foe SLSG Premier. The boys got off to a great start and took a lead heading into halftime. The boys hit some hard luck in the second half with an own goal, and a PK against them to go down 2-1.

SSC sent 7 teams to this year’s tournament and the results off the tournament look like this:
2—teams that weren’t able to advance out of the group stage
1—team advance to the Quarterfinal stage
3—teams advance to the Semifinal stage
1—team crowned Champion

That is a great testament to the work the players, coaches, and parents have put in over the years.
Congratulations to all teams!!!

Other Springfield SC players playing in State Cup are below:
Molly Brewer will be in Wisconsin as well with SLSG u17’s.
Shelby Hatz and Emily Cline won the u18 girls Finals with SLSG, with Emily scoring the game winner!