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VARDARSOCCER'S GIRLS U-12 SECOND IN
NATION AND FIRST IN REGION AFTER COAST2COAST TOURNAMENT WIN
LAKE ZURICH,
ILLINOIS - Vardar Girls ’92 won the Coast-2-Coast
Classic, a soccer tournament exclusively for under-12 (U-12)
girls that brought some of the best teams in the nation from
the east to the west to Lake Zurich, May 1-2. Vardar Girls
‘92, comprised of players from Oakland and Macomb Counties,
prevailed 1-0 over the Ela Tigers in an intense championship
match. Ela came to the tournament with a national ranking
of second per NSR, an organization that ranks top 50 teams
in each age group. Prior to the tournament, Vardar Girls
’92 had been ranked sixth.
The tournament
featured teams from California, Oklahoma, Illinois, Georgia,
Nebraska, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina and Michigan. All
teams were ranked first or second in their home state and 10
of the 16 teams were nationally ranked.
In their first
match-up the Vardar Girls ’92 faced the Chicago Crushers
defeating them 4-0. Vardar’s second game was against the
GSA Phoenix Red from Georgia with the Vardar team coming out
on top, 2-1 in an overtime shootout. Vardar next met Team
Chicago in a semi-final game that again went to a shoot-out
with Vardar winning 2-1. The championship game against Ela
Tigers was an intense defensive battle with Vardar scoring
just one goal in the 60-minute play.
Vardar Girls ’92
consists of Stacey Catalano, Shelby Township; Kyla Cross,
Clinton Township; Julie Hemphill, Clarkston; Melanie Jonas,
Troy; Christine Kelly, Shelby Township; Kayla Mannino,
Bloomfield Hills; Ariel McConnell, Rochester Hills; Megan
McLalin, Troy; April Messick, White Lake; Niki Read, Orion;
Megan Siebert, Troy; Anna Sieloff, Troy; Kacie Steinbrecher,
Rochester Hills; Sarah Surzyn, Sterling Heights; and Riley
Wood, White Lake. The team is coached by Ralph Torre of
Royal Oak.
“I was extremely proud
of these girls,” Torre said. “They worked hard and
persevered against high quality teams. Coast-2-Coast was a
very competitive tournament and we never let up. It was a
job well done.”
# # #
Photo caption
COAST-2-COAST VICTORS – The Vardar Girls ’92 team won the
Coast-2-Coast Classic, a soccer tournament exclusively for
under-12 girls that featured some of the best teams in the
nation. (left to right, top row) Sarah Surzyn, Ariel
McConnell, Stacey Catalano, Melanie Jonas, Megan Siebert,
Coach Ralph Torre; (center row) April Messick, Kacie
Steinbrecher, Kayla Mannino, Megan McLalin; (bottow row)
Julie Hemphill, Riley Wood, Anna Sieloff, Kyla Cross,
Christine Kelly and Niki Read make up the Vardar squad.
Managers (not shown): Gary and Karen Read |
