Club Soccer Spotlight: PSA GU12 Win Toyota of Orange Classic

37th Annual Toyota of Orange Classic Tournament. August 21 - 22, 2010

The adage “Always a Bridesmaid Never a Bride” can no longer be applied to the PSA GU12 girls.  The girls put that tag line to rest with a 1 - 0 victory over the Palmdale Thunder in the 37^th annual Toyota of Orange Classic. Strong defense and possession defined the final of the Tournament of Champions with the PSA girls providing both.  

PSA teammate Emily as she controls the ball

Mikey was PSA's game winner in the finals

POOL A   1  Anaheim FC   2  CANYON PSA   3  Saddleback Dynamite   POOL B   1  OCP Future   2  Palmdale Thunder   3  Laguna Niguel SC Rage   GU12 Final: PALMDALE THUNDER  -  0   CANYON PSA  -  1

The win marked the first ever tournament victory for the girls after numerous finals. 

The weekend opened with a dominating outing against the Saddleback Dynamite. A first half free kick put in by Lindsay Stoner was followed by Ashley Maron with a nice finishing touch to score the team’s second goal. Additional goals from Emily Rodriguez with two one off a rebound and then another off a lovely cross which led to an own goal off the defenders foot.  

Switching things up as he has the entire summer, coach PSA Carlos Camey, may be close to finding his special recipe for success. Camey’s outside the box thinking, pun intended, had Hayley Baca playing right midfield instead of keeper. Baca made many pretty runs, showed great speed, control, had a goal and some nice crosses as well.

The girls had a rather rough match against the Anaheim FC squad whose kick and run style was well suited to the short field. PSA allowed 3 goals, all of which were long shots outside the 18 yard box, including one free kick. Later, Anaheim was unable to advance to the finals losing to the Palmdale Thunder on penalty kicks just minutes after they scored the equalizing goal in the last 20 seconds of the semi final off a free kick.

The semi-final was a rematch with the OCP Future girl’s U11 squad playing up. This is a well coached team of young ladies who play real soccer, with quick passes, organized offense and defense and a well coordinated team effort. An early goal by Cameryn Boucher provided an early advantage, however, it was then countered by a goal off a free kick.

Both teams pressed up and down the field looking for a game winner. Peyton Lott made some nifty moves to get free in the box and send a shot in across the front of the net. The Futures keeper was able to just bat this away but could not stop the aggressive and well placed follow up header by Khalea Thompson.  

The PSA GU12 squad squared off against the Palmdale Thunder for the Sunday final. The girl’s ability to keep possession of the ball controlled the outcome and stole Palmdale’s "Thunder".  Multiple runs up the side and pretty centering passes led to numerous shots on goal. Ultimately it was a Mikey Garcia shot from almost mid field that took a high bounce and leapt over the outstretched Palmdale keeper's hand to seal the deal.  Insuring continued possession were strong midfield activity by Tabatha Macedo, Brissa Camey and a particularly strong outing by Jade Poling.

With this positive finish, the PSA GU12 girls can look forward to the challenges of the season ahead, confident and with the ‘monkey’ off their back!