Over 500 teams participated in the Indiana Youth Soccer State and Challenge Cups at various venues at the weekend.
The State Cup, for U13 to U19 teams, is the first step in the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series, the nation's premier youth soccer tournament, while the Challenge Cup, for teams from U11 to U18, is just as competitive.
And it was in the Challenge Cup where there was success for Southern Indiana United's U14 Mavericks which won its bracket and now moves onto the finals at the Hefner Complex in Fort Wayne from May 29-June.
Mavericks will attempt to retain the Challenge Cup title won by SIU's Rampage last year after going unbeaten through the preliminaries at Westfield. Mike Vejar's boys got off to a good start, with victory over Indiana Invaders 2-0 on Saturday, before disposing of Lawrence SC 5-0 on Sunday morning. They then rounded out a perfect three for three against main bracket rivals Pumas by 3-1, a game they were actually losing 1-0 in.
Their 10 goals were scored by Kameron Jenkins (3), Cray Trimble (3), Vincent Straight (2), and Brian Fisher and Andrew Wimp (1 each).
Coach Mike Vejar said: "My compliments go to the entire team for focusing and implementing what we've trained with in practice for weeks. Our defense was solid all weekend, our midfielders controlled the tempo and the flow of the game, and our forwards took advantage of plenty of opportunities to give us the cushions we needed to lock down defensively on opponents."
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SIU U14 Mavericks
Meanwhile, Net-Surfers' U13 girls traveled to Fort Wayne, where they opened with a scoreless tie with Tippco Fire from Lafayette. They then went on to beat Fishers 3-0 and St Francis Lady Dragons 2-0.
After three games, Net-Surfers and Tippco could not be separated, with the same points, the same goals difference and the same goals scored, so it boiled down to the toss of a coin for a place in the finals, which Tippco won.
Meanwhile, Southern Indiana United was represented by two teams -- U15 and U17 boys -- at this year's top level Indiana State Cup.
Under the guidance of Bruce Rigsby, U15 Rampage held its own at the highest level after their impressive Indiana State Challenge Cup victory last year.
They put up a good fight against eventual group winners Cutters from Bloomington on Saturday, losing narrowly by a 2-1 scoreline. Rampage then tied its two remaining games 1-1, first against Westside United later in the day, and then against Fort Wayne Sport Club Sunday.
SIU's U17 boys’ team -- with DJ Barksdale at the helm -- tied its first game against FC Pride 3-3 in Columbas on Thursday. On Sunday they lost 4-1 to Fort Wayne Fever , before losing to bracket winners, Northern Indiana Futbol Academy, by another 4-1 scoreline.
Other teams from the area to take part in the Challenge Cup included SIU's U11 and U16 boys; Net-Surfers' U12 and U16 girls; and SIU's U14 girls.
Other results - Challenge Cup Boys: U11 SIU Strikers - Lost 3-2 to SWISA Storm; lost 2-1 to Center Grove Utd; lost 6-0 to Carmel Utd. U16 SIU - Beat FC Indiana 2-1; lost 8-0 to Fort Wayne Sport Club; lost 2-1 to Columbus Express Phoenix. Challenge Cup Girls: U14 SIU - Lost 2-1 to SWISA Surge; lost 3-0 to St Francis Blue Angels; lost 1-0 to Center Grove Red Storm. U12 Net-Surfers Purple - Lost 2-0 to Carmel United; lost 3-0 to Indiana Invaders; beat FC Evansville Lady Lions 1-0. U16 Net-Surfers - 1-1 versus FC Indiana; beat NWI United 3-2.FC Indiana win bracket on goal difference.
