Youth Soccer News: FC Golden State Academy Advances at State Cup

The second weekend of Cal South State Cup competition brought thrills for youth soccer players from throughout the Cal State area. For two BU10 teams from FC Golden State Academy, it would be an especially memorable weekend in Lancaster, California.

The FC Golden State Academy BU10 team moved into the Round of 32 following a successful first State Cup weekend. The boys had defeated TVSA Hawks 10-2 and Celtic Harps 7-3 on Saturday, February 11, and then downed RFC Milan 5-0 to finish the weekend on Sunday. With a first place finish in their bracket, the team was pumped and ready to go as they headed to Lancaster for the knockout rounds.

The Golden State boys began the weekend with a match against the Irvine Premier SC Boys ’01 team on Saturday, February 18. Watching their opponents warm up before the game, Golden State coach Tony de Vocht realized it would not be an easy matchup. Irvine had gone 2-1 in the first weekend, finishing second in their bracket behind Galaxy B01 Black. As expected, it was a hard-fought match. In the second half Golden State went down a man when Aidan Favero received a red card, but the team held together to pull out a 5-3 win.

Afterwards, de Vocht complimented the Irvine squad on their game. “They played well and really made us earn the victory,” he said. “My boys really stepped it up and showed a lot of character in the win.”

On Sunday Golden State went up against a team from FC Barcelona, who had defeated Carlsbad Lightning B10 Red on PKs to move into the Round of 16. Barça had finished second in their bracket with a 2-1 record, only losing to bracket winner West Coast FC by a 3-2 score.

It was not the first time Golden State and Barcelona had met, and every game had been tough.

Golden State scored quickly to take an early 1-0 lead, but Barça fought back to tie the match at 1-1. After that, the Golden State boys stepped up their game in a very physical match and took a 5-1 victory to move into the quarter final round. However, the final score did not reflect any lack of skill on the side of Barcelona.

“We have played them in the past,” said de Vocht, “and they always play us tough. We scored very quickly which is not always a good thing because it gives the players a false sense of security. Barça stepped it up and made it difficult for us. They played physical and they got their goal to make it 1-1. It was a good game and in the end we came away with the 5-1 victory.”

Meanwhile, FC Golden State Academy Gold was making their way through the ranks as well. The boys had taken top spot in their bracket as well, with wins over SMUFC (3-0), Oxnard PAL Blue (5-3) and Colton America SC BU10 (5-2). They were not about to let their club mates have all the fun at the second weekend of State Cup.

The Academy Gold side kicked off their matches against a strong CV Manchester BU10 Academy team that had finished second in pool play, defeating Exiles Black and FC Blades by identical 5-0 scores. With the wind at their backs, the Academy Gold boys scored a first half goal to take the lead into halftime.

In the second half the defense stepped up their game, denying CV Manchester any opportunities to score, to preserve a 1-0 win and earn a trip to the Round of 16.

“Given the conditions and knowing how well the Manchester team plays, I knew this would be a fun game to be a part of,” de Vocht said. “Both teams came to play soccer, and that is always nice to see. Going with the wind we were able to get the first goal. I didn’t feel this would be enough, but the defense really stepped it up and played very well in the second half. Our keeper made some great saves as well.”

In the next round the Academy Gold team met a solid Strikers FC team who had taken top spot in their own bracket. With wins over Newport Mesa SC (4-3), SC Athletic Red (5-1) and Real So Cal Blue (4-1), the Strikers were confident that they would move on to the quarter finals. As it turned out, the game could have easily gone either way.

The Academy Gold boys scored first to take a 1-0 lead, but Strikers battled back to tie the match. A second time Golden State moved ahead, only to see their opponents tie the game. The match finally went down to PKs, with both teams anxious to make that final winning goal. When the dust finally settled, Golden State Academy Gold had taken the shootout 4-3 to move on to the quarter finals.

“Going to PKs is not how you want to end a great match,” de Vocht admitted, “but I told the boys that no matter what happened in the penalty shootouts they had already won. They pulled together and were able to defeat a good Irvine team in penalties. The sight of the weekend for me was seeing both FC Golden State Academy teams celebrating the PK victory”

That celebration would not last. The Cal South State Cup schedule matched these two FC Golden State BU10 teams against each other in the quarter final match.

Golden State Academy boys were able to defeat their club mates Golden State Academy Gold by a 6-2 margin to move on to the semifinal round.

“These boys have trained together all year and it is a great accomplishment for the club to have both teams reach the quarters,” said de Vocht of the two squads. “It was a good game and at one point the score was 3-2.”

FC Golden State Academy now moves on to the Semi Final round in Chino Hills on March 3rd where they will face an old nemesis, San Diego Surf White.

De Vocht is looking forward to the next match. “We will face a very good Surf team. I wouldn’t expect anything less than another great game. Every time we play Surf it is a game to remember. It is a great accomplishment for both teams, who played each other in the finals last year, to once again make it to this stage. We are looking forward to the challenge.”

FC Golden State Academy BU10 Roster		FC Golden State Academy BU10 Gold Roster
Martin Delgado Damien Esparza Aiden Favero Steven Anderson David Castellanos Cameron Shin Marcos Isidoro Alexander Alvarado Guillermo Lopez Frankie Gonzalez Emiliano Gutierrez Effrain Alvarez Jaime Gonzalez Alex Mendez		Aaron Cervantes Andrew Garcia Alex Zamudio Noah Henry Eduardo Mosqueda Matt Palos Julien Pineda Esteban Hernandez Ivan Hernandez Beto Barajas Brian Rosales Eddie Torres

Related Article: Spotlight on Thales Peterson – FC Golden State