West Pines United Girls U18
Takes Title at Norcross Nike Cup

December 3, 2007

West Pines United Under 18 Girls were crowned champions on Sunday at Norcross Nike Cup in Atlanta, Georgia.  Playing 4 games in 27 hours (after many players had played 2 or 3 high school games during the week) the team was undefeated in group play of the U18/19 Champions Division. The first match ended 1-0 WPU versus Athens United Gold from Georgia (goal scored by Allie Llaneras), the second game of the day on Saturday was also a 1-0 win (goal by April Perry) over West Metro Freedom from Georgia.  Sunday morning's game pitted WPU against SMSC Cruzeiro, the #3 team in Tennessee which ended in a 1-1 tie (goal scored by Perry on her own corner kick) but gave WPU enough points to move on to the finals.   The finals saw West Pines take on the previously undefeated winner of the other bracket, North Atlanta Premier 08's from Georgia.  The game ended in a 0-0 tie, continued same after two overtime periods and went into a penalty kick shoot out.  West Pines made their first four kicks and North Atlanta missed two so the PK's ended at 4-2, WPU not needing their 5th shot.  Kickers were Marisa Vargas, Llaneras, Chelsea Mosko, and Perry.  Goalkeeper Liz Holmberg was stellar in the net only allowing one goal against all weekend. Providing strong defense in front of her were Kayla Johnson, Allison Sapp, and Jessica Drew. Controlling the mid-field were Melissa Malone, Sarah Crow, Mosko, Vargas, Perry and Llaneras.  Fowards pressuring the opponents throughout the tournament were Brittany Bucknor, Sara Ruggiero, Tiffany Marshall and guest player Amanda Saccullo from West Pines U17 team.  Most of the girls also play for their high school teams; Cypress Bay, Miami Springs, Hollywood Hills, Nova, Everglades, St. Thomas Aquinas, and American Heritage.  Coached by Donovan Bucknor and Gary Johnson, this is the team's final season of club soccer before graduating in the spring.  Over eighty college coaches were in attendance at the event providing a great recruiting opportunity for the players.  The girls are garnering interest from several colleges around the South and will now be making decisions with verbal commitments upcoming.   The team competed in Florida State League's U16/17/18 College Prep Division for early season and were Quarter-Finalists at the Summer Score at the Shore in Greensboro North Carolina in July and Semi-Finalists at the Disney Showcase Qualifier in September. Next event is the Orange Classic in Plantation December 27-30, 2007 and then Score at the Shore Winter February 16-18, 2008 in Tampa, both also College Showcase Tournaments.