The U15 boys qualified for the State Cup Finals in dramatic fashion this weekend upsetting Villarreal Academy and Stafford along the way. In Saturday's quarterfinal game the Kickers jumped into a 1-0 first half lead after a goal off a corner from Fidel Andino. Two goals early in the second half gave Villarreal back the lead. The Kickers tied the game late in the second half on a beautiful free kick from Kevin Sanchez. The two teams played a scoreless overtime and moved into Penalty Shots. The Kickers penalty shots scored by Kevin Sanchez, Adnan Cirkic, Charles Herlihy, Fidel Andino and two huge saves made by Goalkeeper Cameron Vester gave the Kickers the 4-3 win in PK's.
Next up was a semi-final match against Stafford who had previously advanced in dominating fashion 5-0 over Tidewater in the quarterfinals, The Kickers defense fared well staying organized and compact to frustrate the always dangerous Stafford offense. The game finished 0-0 in regulation time and seemed destined for another penalty kick shootout when with 1 minute left in the 2nd OT Kevin Sanchez scored a 35 yard blast that ricocheted off the inside far post and into the goal. Goalkeeper Miles Dixon made some fine saves to keep a clean sheet for the Kickers. The Kickers will play in the Finals on Sunday, Feb 13th against the winner of the Great Falls vs Virginia Legacy match.
The U16 Boys semi-final versus Loudoun was a tightly contested match throughout with both teams struggling to deal with the tricky winter conditions. The Kickers began brightly however generating several quality opportunities that they failed to convert. The score remained tied 0-0 at the half. The deadlock was broken early in the second half when Isaac Torres provided a great play on the right wing to find Kyle Fowler at the back post, who then had the simplest of headers to nod over the line. The U16s continued to control the game although Loudoun always looked dangerous on the counter keeping the game finely balanced throughout. Another stout defensive team performance and shut-out allowed the team to prevail and book their place in the final versus Virginia Legacy.
The U17 Boys were eliminated from the State Cup in the semifinals 2-3 to PSA on Sunday. In Saturday's Quarterfinal against Loudon the Kickers jumped into a 2-0 lead early in the game with goals scored by Jesus Hernandez and Wes Wise. Loudon scored right before the end of the first half and again early in the second half to tie the game at 2-2. With about 5 minutes left in regulation Wes Wise scored the game winner on an incredible individual effort that ended with a 20 yard far post goal. In the semifinals the Kickers came out strong early but failed to convert multiple scoring opportunities and found themselves down 0-1 at halftime. During the second half the Kickers once again missed several more opportunities to equalize and then conceded a goal off a corner to fall behind 0-2. Jesus Hernandez got the Kickers back into the game scoring a goal directly from a corner kick. Not long after the Hernandez goal PSA responded with a 3rd goal to take a 1-3 advantage. Jesus Hernandez scored another to close the game to 2-3 but with time running out the Kickers were unable to convert on two more chances to allowing PSA to hang on for the win.
The U19 boys lost to top seeded Virginia Legacy in the quarterfinals on Sunday in the Virginia State Cup. In Saturday's play-in game the Kickers defeated Beach FC 2-1 in overtime. Goals scored by David Quintanilla and Juan Gomez gave the Kickers the opportunity to play the top seeded team. On Sunday a tired Kickers team were dominated by a fresh Virginia Legacy team. Virginia Legacy scored early and often to put the game away as the Kickers struggled to cope with their attacking threats.
Congrats to all the Kickers teams who participated this weekend.