Roadrunners 98/99 Premier win the Surf Cup

Last weekend our 98/99 team competed at the prestigious Surf Cup in San Diego, CA. This tournament is considered as one of the top three tournaments in the US. Our boys competed in the Super White U19 bracket, against teams that are ranked top 5% in the country and took the 1st place.


In the first group game, Roadrunners faced the #1 ranked team from Hawaii and came out on top with a 2:0 win. A PK awarded in the last second of the first half for a foul on McCue proved to be a decisive moment in a very nervy first game. In their second game, the boys versed the tournament favorites, NORTHBAY ELITE FC JUVENTUS 98 from Sacramento, CA. In a lesson in the art of pressing, our 98/99s won 4:0 with goals from McCue, Nicolas and Woodward. With this win, the team secured its advancement into the semi-finals and started drawing a lot of attention from soccer coaches and college scouts. The conclusion of the group stage came vs. the #1 ranked team from Oregon and a 4:1 loss in a game where Roadrunners were able to rest some of the key players.

On Monday, the boys played in the semi-final game, which was broadcasted live on youtube. They outplayed their opponent DAVIS LEGACY 98 RED in the first half with two goals from McCue but came under a lot of pressure in the second as the California team changed the system of play into a more attacking 3-5-2. The affair ended up with 2:1 for Roadrunners and a well deserved entrance into the final. Only two and a half hours later, the two best teams met in the final showdown. The first half of the final offered largely a battle for the dominance in the midfield, with neither of teams really able to take control of the game. After the break Roadrunners came into the second half with more energy and a cross from Perez and shot from Herrera resulted in a handball called against PATEADORES MV in the box. Herrera converted the PK, 1:0 Roadrunners. The goal seemed to have woken up the team from Riverside, CA as they came back with a vengeance to tie the game up 1:1. With the momentum on their side the Californians tried to seal off the game before the end of the regulation time. However, Roadrunners reacted with substituting a midfielder for a forward. Woodward, who came on as substitute, ended up scoring the winning goal with only 5 minutes left in the game. Pateadores were not able to rally enough energy in the final minuted to seriously challenge the yellow wall and the scoreline remained unchanged to the end, Pateadores : Roadrunners 98/99 1:2, and our boys were crowned Surf Cup U19 Champions.

The Champions: Christian Aguayo, Brian Gould, Ethan Akkawi, Arturo Escot, Grant Ugarte, Daniel Schuller, Daniel Ladik, Dorian Moreno, Gustavo Anguiano, Leandro Deagueros, Ronaldo Perez, Christian Herrera, Gerardo Nicolas, Fernando Davila, Michael McCue and Max Woodward

Coach: Dusan Strmcnik
Team manager: Dieter Schuller

Congratulations boys, we are very proud of you.