October 13, 2004

Fall State Cup Finals Set for Thursday, October 14
Four 2004 Champions Advance to Defend Titles

Utah State Cup Championship games for the Boys U15 through U18 age groups are played in the Fall. The fall tournament started on October 4 and will be completed on Thursday, October 14 when four new champions are crowned. The championship games will be played at Lone Peak Park in Sandy, Utah. The following teams have advanced to the championship round:

In the BU15 group the defending champions Nighthawks from Sandy will play Utah FC Orange from Davis County. Nighthawks, coached by Ben Staples, won 4 games in the tournament by scoring 16 goals and not giving up a single goal. Utah FC, coached by Mike Polich, won their first four tournament games by giving up only 1 goal and scoring 20. However, they faced a tough semi-final match against Sparta Premier that went to penalty kicks after ending in a 4 to 4 tie. This championship match will begin at 6:00 p.m. on the Lone Peak West field.

The BU16 Sparta Premier team will defend their title at 8:00 p.m. on the Lone Peak East field. Paul Page is the coach of this talented Sparta team. During the tournament they have had only one goal scored against them while putting away 15 goals in four games. Sparta will face either United Red or USA Milan , as these teams played through overtime to a 3 to 3 goal tie in a thrilling semi-final match on Wednesday. The winner of this match will be determined by penalty kicks Thursday.

Inter FC Premier is the defending champion in the U17 age group. This team, coached by Mark Graham of Orem won the Utah State Cup in 2003 and 2004. Impact Black, coached by Connie Martin lost to Inter FC in the semi's of last year's state cup and is looking for a chance to claim the title. The U17 match will be played at 8:00 p.m. on the West field.

Sparta Premier and Rangers 87 will compete in the U18 championship match at 6:00 p.m. on the East field at Lone Peak Park. Sparta Premier, coached by Phil Roberts, is the returning champion and has not yet given up a goal in the tournament. Dave Woolley's Rangers 87 team won the state cup in 2000 and is looking to reclaim the title.

Lone Peak Park is one of Sandy's newest parks and is located at 10140 South and 700 East. Utah Youth Soccer appreciates Sandy City for making these fields available for the Championship games.

Lone Peak Park
10140 South 700 East
Sandy, UT