May 31, 2004

State Cup Champions Crowned Under Sunny Skies
Beautiful Day Brings Close Matches of the Beautiful Game

Champions in eleven divisions of the 2004 State Cup were crowned in finals held on Memorial Day at the West Jordan Complex. Ten of the eleven matches were close throughout, and five matches extended into overtime. Two matches were decided in sudden death on golden goals, and three ended in shootouts. The high level of play in all of the games was matched by the quality of the officiating.

State Cup Chair Teresa Ortiz offered her congratulations to the champions as well as to all of the participants in the 2004 Utah State Cup. The champions listed below advance to represent Utah at the Far West Regional Championships, slated for June 20-26 in Spokane, Washington.

Under 12 Boys--Advantage (Layton) 0(Shoot-out Win 6-5 ), Northern United (Sandy) 0

Advantage Coach Ray Parkhurst substituted goalkeepers for the shootout, and Scott Chambers vindicated his coach's confidence and emerged as the hero. Northern United took an early 3-1 lead in the shootout, but Chambers kept Northern United out of his net long enough to extend the shootout so his team could prevail on the eighth shooter of this nail-biter. Luke Parkhurst, Cord Stimpson, Mitch Fackrell, Cory Craynor, Zach Reid, and Sean Palmer converted penalties for Advantage.

Under 13 Boys--Impact (Salt Lake) 1(Shoot-out Win 4-2 ), Utah Valley Rangers 1

Coach Dave Wooley and his UV Rangers lost in the State Cup final for a second consecutive year in heartbreaking fashion. UV Rangers struck early with a goal from Karson Payton in this match between classy rivals, but Impact evened the match before halftime with a goal by Nilson Olfgren. Utah Youth Soccer's Coach of Month for June, Chris Madsen, then watched as his team outlasted the UV Rangers in a see-saw shootout.

Under 14 Boys--Nighthawks (Sandy) 3, Inter FC (Sandy) 0

Nighthawks (Sandy) 3, Inter FC (Sandy) 0. Surprise finalist Inter FC saw its dreams dashed by the highly favored Nighthawks. Coach Ben Staples' Nighthawks scored in the first half and finally put the match beyond reach with two late goals in a surprisingly competitive match.

Under 12 Girls--Sparta (Sandy) 2, Avalanche (Sandy) 1

Avalanche led at the half, but Sparta coach Tom Flynn fired his team up at halftime. Sparta stormed back on the field and equalized in the first minute of the second half. The winning goal came approximately fifteen minutes later, sending Sparta to the Far West Regional Championships in Spokane, Washington in late June.

Under 13 Girls--United Front (Layton) 3, Park City Extreme 0

United Front, under the direction of Coach Shara Fernandez, blew away the overmatched Park City Extreme. The victory avenged a bitter defeat for United Front in last year's championship match.

Under 14 Girls--Avalanche (Sandy) 0(Shoot-out Win 3-1), Advantage (Layton) 0

Avalanche goalkeeper Mckenzie Olson was the star, holding Advantage without a goal in regulation and two overtime periods. Advantage then missed three penalty kicks to doom its chances for the State Cup crown.

Under 15 Girls--Avalanche (Sandy) 3(Overtime), Advantage (Layton) 2

Advantage scored early with a goal from Hailey Hall and again late from Whitney Smuin to send this thriller into overtime. Avalanche had equalized on an own goal before taking the lead on a goal from Stephanie Lowery. Heather Pond scored the golden goal in overtime to give the crown to Becky Hogan's Avalanche team.

Under 16 Girls--Avalanche (Sandy) 1(Overtime), Utah Futbol Club (Bountiful) 0

Avalanche needed a golden goal in the first half of overtime to defeat Coach Gordon Ebner's UFC squad in a tense match.

Under 17 Girls--Celtic Storm (Orem) 1, Avalanche (Sandy) 0

Coach Robyn Bretzing's Celtic Storm successfully defended its State Cup crown with a 1-0 defeat of Avalanche. Whitney Feller tallied the winner for the four-time State Cup champions.

Under 18 Girls--Utah Futbol Club (Bountiful) 3, Inter FC (Sandy) 2

In the tournament's biggest upset, Coach Chuck Miller's determined UFC team raced to a 3-1 lead and then withstood furious pressure from favored Inter FC to hang on until the final whistle.

Under 19 Girls--Celtic Storm (Orem) 3, DC Raiders (Davis County) 0

Goalkeeper Kacie Zimmerman, a refugee from the University of Utah women's program, posted a clean sheet as Coach Ron Asay's Celtic Storm breezed to the State Cup championship.