Two local youth soccer teams bring home national titles
By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Local youth soccer stock is rising fast and over the last few days has peaked.
The first local soccer team to qualify for, and compete in, a national championship event was when the Shreveport United ’03 girls team went to the US Club nationals in 2021.
Since then the floodgates have opened for local teams. There have been upwards of 15 teams making such trips, including seven this year alone. None had come home with the national title, until now!
On Monday, the Shreveport United ’08 girls won the US Youth U19 National Championship in Murfreesboro Tennessee. This was the third year in a row they qualified for the nationals.
The Shreveport United ’12 boys matched them, winning the US Club U14 national championship in Commerce City, Colorado.
The ’08 girls began their nationals going 3-0 in the group stage, scoring eight goals, while only conceding one. Their wins were over; Lobos Rush 07/08 Lady Lobos Desoto (Miss.) 3-1, Real Billings FC 07/08 Gold (Montana) 2-0 and FC 814 Energy (Pa.) 3-0.
The ’08 girls hit their stride even stronger in the quarterfinals, topping Cook Intel Soccer Club Elite (Alaska) 4-1. Stella Zippert scored three goals with all assisted by Ryleigh Stuart. Gabi Hamic added the other, assisted by Eryn Flowers.
The dominance continued into the semifinals when the local girls beat the Little Rock Rangers Academy ’07 Girls 3-0. Zippert had two goals, with assists credited to Hamic and Eden Whiteman. Flowers scored once with Hamic’s second assist of the game. Keeper Peyton Lewis had her third clean sheet of the tournament.
In the finals the SU girls faced off with TF Rapids SC U19G (Idaho), a team that was also undefeated. After 90 minutes of play, Shreveport United had its first national championship, winning 3-1.
The SU girls started the final strong with possession and a goal in the first 10 minutes by Zippert with Hamic contributing the assist. The scoreboard didn’t change until just before the halftime whistle, when the Rapids put in the equalizer.
Shreveport shook it off and came out for the second half determined. The game winner came about halfway through the second half when Zippert put a cross in that Hamic was able to finish. The final goal was an unassisted goal Baleigh Ware intercepted a backwards pass to the keeper and converted.
When reflecting on the journey, coach Mark Matlock said, “I’m so proud of this group of girls and what they have accomplished not only this year but over their club careers. Being four-time state champions, attending regionals and nationals for the three previous years, and finally putting it all together and winning the first ever Louisiana USYS national championship.”
US Youth awards tournament honors that the Shrevport United team clean up in: Golden Boot — Zippert, Golden Glove — Lewis and Golden Ball (overall MVP) — Gabi Hamic.
Across the country, the SU ’12 Boys were competing in the US Club Nationals in Rocky Mountain territory. The local boys had a bumpier ride to their title then the girls did.
The ’12 boys started the tournament with back to back scoreless ties with Calvary FC ‘12B ECNL-RL (south Texas) and Huntingdon Valley (Pa.) AA HV Armour ‘12B NPL. Needing a win in the final group stage game against Idaho Slammers FC ‘12B Neon, the SU boys played their hearts out in a 4-2 victory, ensuring their spot in the semifinals.
The semifinal round brought on a familiar opponent in Arkansas Comets FC 12B NPL, with our hometown heroes coming out on top of a hotly contested 1-0 game. The only goal came in the 17th minute of the first half, when Jackson Watkins was able to put the ball into the back of the net. The rest of the game was an evenly match battle to the end, with keeper Mason Minor getting his third clean sheet in four games.
The final was Tuesday morning against Carolina Football Club Swarm ‘12B, with the local boys coming out on top 3-1. SU took control early when in the 11th minute of the game they had a corner kick. Wyatt Rath put the ball in the box and Cole Quinlan slotted it into the net. In the 28th minute, with the ball bouncing around in the Carolina box, it found its way to Watkins’ foot and he doubled United’s lead.
Carolina cut the advantage in half eight minutes into the 2nd period. The one-goal spread was short-lived as three minutes later Minor hit a long punt to Watkins who shot and scored the final goal. It’s not often a keeper gets credit for a goal, something he’ll remember for a long time.
“They have the same makeup as the ‘03 girls’ team in that the team had great chemistry” said Andrew Yurachko whose son, Andrew, is a member of this ’12 boys team and his daughter, Aila, was on that ’03 girls team that broke the ice five years ago.
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net
