Off to nationals for Hawaii Bulls

The U-19 Hawaii Bulls boys needed to get by a familiar opponent to qualify for the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships late Saturday afternoon, and needed penalty kicks to do it.

After the game ended 1-1 and extra time couldn’t decide things, the Bulls knocked off the Irvine Strikers to take the Far West Regional Championships by winning in a shootout 4-2 at Plantes Ferry Park, earning Hawaii’s first ever regional title in any age group.

It was also the third consecutive year the two sides clashed in the Regional Championships. Two years ago, the Bulls opened the tournament with the Strikers and won 2-1, but the Cal South representative recovered, moving out of the group and then winning Regionals and Nationals.

Last year the pair met again in the quarterfinals, with the Strikers winning in penalties in a game that saw 11 yellow cards and four red cards. This year, it was the Bulls’ turn.

“It was a long time coming,” Hawaii head coach Phil Neddo said. “We wanted to play this game against this team. I always tell the boys, it’s not the prize, it’s the value of it, and the value of it is always who you beat to get there. And here’s no question that the Irvine Strikers’ competition against us makes that victory even sweeter.”

The Strikers played that last hour a man down after getting a player sent off with two yellow cards, but still scored the first goal with just seconds remaining in the first half.

But Hawaii held strong in the second half and roughly ten minutes in, got the equalizer when Matthew Fischer knocked in a loose ball in the Irvine box after a Bulls corner kick. And when neither team was able to score through the rest of regulation and overtime, the Bulls earned the state’s first ever trip to Nationals, held this year July 21-25 in Orlando, Fla., via penalties.

Outside midfielder Ryan Oakes, who originally is from Spokane before he and his family moved to Boise right before his freshman year of high school, played significant minutes for Irvine.

Oakes played last year at the University of San Francisco but has since left the school and is still deciding where to play this next season.

In the girls U-19 final, the Pleasanton Rage, a Cal North team that won the National Title at the U-17 level two years ago, held off Cal South’s Samba 2-0 to earn the region’s birth at Nationals.

Jennifer Tuttle scored what proved to be the game winner in the 67th minute, knocking in a rebound of Tina Sutorias’ shot that bounced off the left goal post. Tina Estrada secured the win with a goal in the 81st minute.

The Rage, led by goalkeepers Corey Alexander and Kim Bingham, take a strong defense into Nationals, having allowed just one goal in the Regional Championships.

The Rage also bucked a Cal South trend, as the lower California region had a team in every girls final except the U-15s with five Cal South teams earning victories.

Job well done

Emily Cressy was given credit for the only goal in the U-14 girls title match, giving Cal South’s Camarillo Eagles the win over the Sereno Eagles of Arizona.

That in itself may not be anything unusual, except that Cressy can’t hear out of her right ear and has significant hearing loss in her left ear.

Cressy, who was born with the hearing damage, is a forward for the Cal South side.

She had started every match before Saturday’s final. Sports has been an outlet for Cressy, who has been with the Eagles for five years. She has enough hearing in the left ear to hear the whistle and can hear her teammates yelling, though may not be able to make out specifically what they are saying. Some of her teammates have learned sign language so they can communicate better with her.

“The girls have been great,” said Emily’s mother, Rhonda Cressy. “Sports seems to be the area where she can be like everyone else. She loves competing.”

Cressy has also been a valuable asset to the team off the field.

“Emily’s been with the team since day one,” head coach Vince Thomas said. “She’s the most spirited person on the team. This weekend, for the first time, she actually had to deal with not starting for the team and what you saw today was her response. She didn’t get down, she came back out and gave what the team needed in order for us to win the championship today.”

Cressy will also be heading to Australia in January to play with the U.S. national team in the deaf Olympics. Aside from a lack of familiarity – the national team was training as the Far West Regionals were ongoing – it’s a type of game that may actually take some getting used to.

“It’s going to be strange,” she said. “I’m used to my teammates being able to hear me when I yell at them. When I play (on the deaf side), they don’t hear me. It’s way harder.”

Regional wrap-up

There were a total of 16 regional title matches Saturday at Plantes Ferry Park, with winners from age groups U-14 to U-19 moving on to the National Championships in Orlando, Fla.

In U-12 girls action, Kathryn Bennett scored in the 32nd minute, leading Washington’s Crossfire Premier past Cal South’s Blues 1-0. On the boys side, Antonio Benitez scored in the 14th minute as the Cal South Valley United Blast knocked off Colorado’s Storm Royal 3-0.

Cal South’s U-13 San Diego Surf fended off Hawaii’s Ho’okalakupua in penalties in girls action after the game ended 0-0. In boys action, Russell Tully had a hat trick as Cal North’s El Dorado United Crew coasted past the Santa Cruz County Chivitas, a wild-card Cal North team, 5-0.

Cal South had the boys U-14 champion, Michael Mora scored the first of his two goals in the game’s first minute, leading the Celtic Harps past Arizona’s Sereno Golden Eagles 3-0.

Cal North claimed the U-15 girls title, as Michaela Dejesus and Keelin Winters each had a pair of goals, leading the Mustang Blast past New Mexico’s Albuquerque United 4-0. In boys action, Ryan Thomas scored twice, once a minute before halftime and once in overtime, to lead Arsenal FC, out of Cal South, to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rush.

Lisa Kevorkian got the winner in the 39th minute as the Cal South Slammers won the U-16 girls title with a 3-1 win over Arizona’s Sereno White. The boys crown was claimed by a Washington team as Nikolas Besagno scored in the 53rd minute to lead FC United past the Sereno White 2-1.

The U-17 girls saw a third Sereno White team fall as Kristina Loucks scored twice to carry So Cal United to a 3-1 win. The boys title game saw four goals scored in the last 3 minutes of the first half, with Cal South’s Jordan Katz getting what proved to be the game winner, as the ISC Strikers held off the Rio Vista Strikers 3-2.

Amy Epsten got the only goal in the 36th minute as the San Diego Surf, out of Cal South, held off the Colorado Rush 1-0 in the U-18 girls title match. The boys match saw another Albuquerque United team fall, as Sereno White, led by goals from Michael Manone in the eighth minute and Jason Allin on the ninth, took home the crown 2-0.