Utah Youth Soccer Has Great Showing In National Tournament

OVERLAND PARK, KS – The state of Utah put on a show in Overland Park, Kansas in the U.S. Youth Soccer national tournament.

Five teams represented the Beehive state that featured tournaments for seven age groups for boys and girls. They ranged from 13U to 19U.

Four of the five teams appeared in the semifinals.

Celtic FC 00 Premier was the first ever Utah team to win the National Championship in the 19U group.

THEY. DID. IT! @UtahCelticFC 00 are @USYouthSoccer 19U National Champions! They defeated Lou Fusz Elam from Missouri, 9-1 to take home Utah's first ever National Championship! #TheBeaUTAHfulGame #Champs pic.twitter.com/uRRqoVpPlR

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

Celtic FC 00 Premier, 19U Girls

Celtic won Group A with two wins and one draw for 7 points.

They started group play by beating Sunrise Sting 2000 from Florida 3-2. Kathryn Schirmer scored the first goal of the match in the 54th for Celtic. Sunrise scored the next two goals, nine minutes apart. Schirmer found the back of the net in the 81st minute to notch a brace. Jamie Shepherd scored in the 90th minute to give Celtic the win.

Their second game was a 0-0 draw against Lou Fusz Elam from Missouri.

They had a fantastic performance against Legends FC South from California to end group play with a 5-0 win. Samantha Brady scored the first two goals, followed by Sydney Bushman in the 68th minute. Schirmer added the fourth goal in the 70th minute and Anna Pickering scored in the 90th minute.

It was an intense game in the semifinal for Celtic as they beat MapleBrook Fury from Minnesota 4-3 in penalty kicks to advance to the final.

The would get a rematch with Lou Fusz Elam but instead of a 0-0 draw like the previous match result, they beat them 9-1 in the final.

Anna Pickering with a goal in the 11th minute! @UtahCelticFC up 1-0 early in the National Championship Match! #TheBeaUTAHfulGame

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

21st minute, Tara Warner with a goal! @UtahCelticFC up 2-0!! #TheBeaUTAHfulGame

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

25th minute- 3-0!!

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

32nd Minute- Kate Schirmer with another goal! 4-0 @UtahCelticFC leads in the National Championship Match! #TheBeaUTAHfulGame

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

49th minute goal from Brecken Mozingo! 5-0 for Celtic! #TheBeaUTAHfulGame

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

74th minute- goal from Samantha Brady! @UtahCelticFC leads 6-0 in this National Championship Final! #TheBeaUTAHfulGame

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

86th minute goal from Kate Schirmer! She has a hat-trick in this National Championship Final!! 7-1, @UtahCelticFC leads! #TheBeaUTAHfulGame

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

88th minute goal- Meagan Astle! 8-1

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

Rebecca Olsen makes it 9-1 in the 91st minute!!

— Utah Youth Soccer (@UtahYouthSoccer) July 28, 2019

Celtic Premier JR, 18U Girls

Celtic Premier had a great tournament run by winning their group with two wins and one draw for 7 points.

They started Group A play with a 0-0 draw against 01 Lady Lobos Rush Premier from Tennessee.

Celtic picked up a 2-0 win over the Michigan Jaguars 01 Green in their second game. Hallie Fernandez scored a goal for the Utah side.

They won their second straight match with a 2-0 win over 1776 United FC 01 Xtreme from Pennsylvania in the final group game. Jocelyn Bybee scored in the 61st minute, followed by Rachel McCarthy in the 86th minute.

They advanced to the semifinal where they lost to Premier Navy 2001 from Maryland 2-0.

La Roca PO, 18U Girls

La Roca took first place in Group B play with one win, two draws and five points.

They played Maryland’s Premier Navy 2001 to a 2-2 draw in their first game. Each team exchanged goals with Premier Navy scoring the equalizer in the 83rd minute. Caroline Stringfellow and Lauren Howe scored for La Roca.

Their second group match was a 2-2 draw against National Union 01 Black from Michigan. National Union scored their two goals in the first seven minutes of the match. Oakley Rasmussen scored for La Roca in the 40th minute before Kaitlyn Richins equalized in the 69th.

La Roca picked up their first win with a 2-1 victory over TFA Elite 01 from Ohio in their final group match. Stringfellow scored both goals for the Utah side in the 6th and 51st minute. TFA scored their only goal in the 18th minute.

They advanced to the semifinal but lost 4-2 to 01 Lady Lobos Rush Premier from Tennessee. Lady Lobos Rush scored first before Sarah Wynn and Stringfellow scored five minutes apart to give La Roca the lead. But they conceded three unanswered goals.

Sparta 01 Premier JK, 18U Boys

Sparta began their tournament run with a 2-0 win over Solar 01 Stricker from Texas in their first game of group B play. Ryen Jiba and Arturo Martin Pimentel scored in the first 31 minutes of the match.

They lost their second group match to Pennsylvania’s Future Player Academy 3-2. Future Player Academy scored first before Jiba scored his second goal of the tournament to tie the match. Micheal Neeley scored the second goal to give Sparta the lead, but the squad from Pennsylvania scored two unanswered goals to pick up the win.

Sparta bounced back in their final group game with a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals 01 Black. Jiba scored first in the match for his third goal. Philadelphia equalized 20 minutes later. Sparta put the game away with a goal by Kevin Videira Lopes in the 70th minute and Martin Pimentel in the 84th minute.

Three of the four teams in Group B finished with 6 points but Sparta scored the most goals to win the group.

They couldn’t get past PPA KSA 01 Pro-Profile from Georgia, losing 4-1 in the semifinal. Fabian Gonzalez Limones scored the first goal of the game for Sparta before PPA KSA scored four unanswered goals. They went on to win the national championship.

Utah Celtic FC, 15U Girls

Utah was in Group B and finished with two losses, one draw and one point.

They started group play with a 3-2 loss to Sporting St. Louis Red Devils 2004. Elle Young and Camryn Jorgensen both scored for Utah.

Utah Celtic FC bounced back with a 2-2 draw against Wisconsin’s SC Waukesha 04 Blue team in their second match of group play. Sierra Pennock and Pyper Vance both scored before Waukesha finished with two unanswered goals.

They ended their tournament run with a 3-0 loss to FC Revolution Dynamo from Pennsylvania.