A local soccer club played in extreme heat in San Bernardino in May against top youth club soccer teams from all over Southern California. In the end, the girls from Los Alamitos Pacific Soccer Club were victorious bringing home the Spring Cup to Los Al.
Coached by John Gee and Natalie Ohishi, PSC Los Al 2004 defeated Premier FC from Cypress in a shut out 2-0, cementing their championship in the Gold division, the highest competitive level in the Spring Cup. PSC has performed well throughout the season and were the underdogs going into this year’s Spring Cup final. The team made the leap from AYSO’s Extra program to more competitive club soccer and were competing with higher level teams.
Spring Cup final
The final match—under 90 degree plus heat—was held to 0–0 at the half. PSC striker Emma Ekblad beat Premier’s defense and goalkeeper to score the first goal in the second half as PSC continued to dominate the game in both possession and shots on goal. The second goal came late in the first half off a direct free kick from center midfielder Julia Muniz, which rebounded off the crossbar and was dumped into the open net by forward Camill Wilson. With ten minutes left to play, Premier FC was unable to answer back with any goals, resulting in a huge upset.
“We are extremely proud of how our girls came into this tournament. [They are] incredibly focused and achieved the unthinkable: shutting out the favorite,” said John Gee, Head Coach, Pacific Soccer Club Los Al Girls 2004. “Our possession-style play and desire to win were key elements in our success, and it’s exciting to see the girls’ hard work and training pay off as they continuously progress to the next level.”
Pacific Soccer Club is one of the fastest growing soccer clubs in our area and provides competitive youth teams, experienced licensed trainers and player development. For more information about PSC, please visit www.pacificsc.org. PSC is part of American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), which is the largest soccer organization in the US and in the communities of Los Alamitos, Rossmoor and Seal Beach. AYSO Region 159 Los Alamitos Fall Soccer late registration is open through June 16.
For more information, please visit www.ayso159.org.
This article appeared in the June 7, 2017 print edition of the News Enterprise.
