Sunrise wins the 3v3 National Championship

Lake Buena Vista, Florida (August 3, 2008) – The Sting’s (96/97) four year quest for the 3v3 National Championship ended in success as the team was crowned as champions on a blistering hot afternoon at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.

The roots of the Sunrise team are grounded in 3v3, as the original core of the team got its start playing 3v3 at U6. Back then, the girls were customarily pounded by ridiculously lopsided scores against teams usually a year older. But over time, the team got better and better, and by U8, the thought was, let the girls’ have some fun and go to Nationals.

So off to Nationals it was, in August of 2005.  The girls made it to the finals but lost 3-1 in the championship. Nevertheless, the team had so much fun and they just seemed to improve game by game, tournament by tournament. In terms of soccer development, we thought we were on to something good, so 3v3 tournaments became a Sunrise favorite.

At U9, the team played 3v3 tournaments in Apopka and in South Florida, winning both. The team was excited to return to Disney for the Nationals, but unexpectedly lost the first game. However, the girls rallied and made it to the final four, where they were knocked out by a terrific team from Texas (5-3), whom subsequently became the champions. The team then won the match for 3^rd place.

By U10, the thought was, play as many tournaments as possible. By then, the Sting had developed a reputation as a superb passing team, and the 3v3 tournaments got a lot of the credit. So the girls played in 3v3 tournaments in Naples, South Florida and Tampa, winning all three. The team was better than ever. So it was on to the annual trip to Disney. There, the Sting was outstanding, scoring more goals and allowing less than any other team. Until the finals, where the ball just did not go into the net, the team lost 4-2 in a heartbreaker.

Which brought the Sting to July of 2008, and the fourth trip to the Nationals. If nothing else, the Sunrise Sting is persistent. Refusing to quit, trying to learn from past mistakes, figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Sunrise opened up against the Georgia Crew. Like last year, the girls got off to a good start, winning 8-1. Next up was the Lightning Strikers from Jacksonville. This team was fast and played fast, but not as fast as the Sting, Sunrise won 9-4.  The third match was going to determine who was going to be the number one seed from the bracket, and was a match up with another undefeated team called Team USA from the Real So Cal club in California. The Sting got the best of the California girls, winning 6-1.

That put the team into the quarterfinals against the FSA Warhawks Blue. The Warhawks field experienced 3v3 teams that are fundamentally sound in all phases of the game. The Warhawks entered the game with an undefeated mark. This turned into a close game but the Sting prevailed 3-1.

The Sting was “rewarded” by getting to play another Warhawks team, called Warhawks Too. Sunrise trailed in this game by scores of 0-1, 1-2, and 2-3, but the team closed with three straight goals by Brittany Simpson, Vanessa Agudelo and Andrea Noriega for the 5-3 victory and a return trip to the National Championship game.

For the third time in four years, the Sting would play for the title. Somewhere in the past, hidden in the disappointment of lost championships on the fields at Disney, were valuable lessons. And today, the Sting showed that they had learned their lessons. The team had gotten by two Warhawk teams in tough games, and now, the Green Monsters (Sarasota/Braden River/IMG) were the only obstacle between the team and the championship. Dallas Dorosy scored early to give Sunrise the 1-0 lead. But the Monsters came right back to make it 1-1. Bailey Pombrio made it 2-1 but the Monsters scored again to tie it at 2-2.  But then, the Sting took over, and Pombrio scored twice more and Dorosy added another to make it 5-2 at halftime. Pombrio made it 6-2 to open up the second half. The Monsters managed to get one more and then Andrea Noriega, Dorosy and Rylee Simons added goals to seal the 9-3 victory and long sought after National Championship.

For the tournament, the team finished with a 6-0 mark and scored 40 goals (6.66 per game) and allowed 13 (2.33 per game).