Sunrise drops title game to Ponte Vedra on PKs

2/18/08

The Sunrise Fire U15 girls lost to national power Ponte Verdra Storm 4-3 in PK's at the Score at the Shore finals. Sunrise struck first in the 32nd minute when Erica Wilner scored to give Sunrise a 1-0 lead. Both teams were noticeably worn down from the long soccer weekend continued battling through out the match as Ponte Vedra equalized the match in the 55th minute with a beautiful cross and header.

The match ended 1-1 and went into PK's for the championship. Ponte Verdra won the tournament on a 4-3 advantage in Pk's. "I do not know about PV but our kids were asleep before we reached the expressway," said Sunrise Coach Camacho, "playing six matches at this level in three days is very tough."

Sunrise was a little short handed as they were missing one of their starting forwards and their captain, a midfielder was injured early on in the tournament and did not play the last 4 matches. Many girls in this event were banged up and it came down to who wanted it more, who had the heart and the desire to push forward.

Sunrise opened with a 3-0 victory over HC United, then a 1-0 victory over Gainsville Glory, followed by a 1-0 victory over Ann Arbor Arsenal, ranked #2 in Michigan to reach the quarter finals. The quarter final match verses an old rival in PBU saw Sunrise come away with a 4-2 victory. Semi finals 8 am Monday, Sunrise ran into a great Chicago Fire team, this match ended 1-1 with Sunrise winning on the 10th kicker in PK's and advancing onto the finals.

With bad weather coming in, the final match was moved up giving the girls very little time between matches.

"I am very proud of all my girls and the effort they displayed this weekend. I do not know many teams that could go as far into a major tournament missing two of the stronger starters as we did. We did not even get in a practice before this event as most of our girls went deep into the high school playoffs, then the rain cancelled the practice, the week prior to SATS. The girls will get some rest and we will begin our preperation for State Cup which begins in March," Camacho said.