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Sports » Santa Barbara Soccer Club Nets Not One, But Two State Cup Titles

Santa Barbara Soccer Club Nets Not One, But Two State Cup Titles

Troy Ritter, right, a member of the Santa Barbara Soccer Club’s under-15 boys’ team, battles for the ball during Cal South State Cup action as Muhammed Mehai and Matthew Connelly look on. (Ward Ritter photo)

By Lloyd Biggs | Published on 04.29.2009

The Santa Barbara Soccer Club made a big impact at the 31st Cal South State Cup competition at the San Bernardino soccer complex last weekend, with the club’s under-14 and under-15 boys’ teams both winning State Cup titles. It’s the first time in the club’s history that two teams in one year have claimed the prestigious title.

Both teams competed over three weekends, making their way through pool play and knock-out rounds to reach the finals.

Under-14 Boys

The club’s under-14 Boys White Team beat the Los Alamitos Titans in a championship game that led to double overtime and a two-round nail-biting penalty shootout.

In regulation play, Matt Willett scored the first goal just three minutes into the game with a lob over the keeper. Then, near the end of the first half, Los Alamitos evened the score.

The game remained tied until about a minute to go until the end of regulation play when Los Alamitos was able to capitalize on a defensive breakdown and took a 2-1 lead. With only 20 seconds remaining, Santa Barbara’s Jelan Hutton served a direct kick into the Los Alamitos goal area that was deflected out 15 yards to Willett, who ripped a shot into the upper left corner of the goal with a side-volley and sent the game to 20 minutes of scoreless overtime.

In the first round of the penalty shootout, Santa Barbara went down by one goal, but goalkeeper Tobin Fikes made the save of the day by diving to stop a well-struck shot to the lower left post that evened the score at 3-3.

Goalkeeper Tobin Fikes, center, celebrates with other members of the Santa Barbara Soccer Club’s under-14 boys’ team. (Ward Ritter photo)

In sudden death penalty kicks, Los Alamitos missed wide to the left and, to the delight of his Santa Barbara teammates, Peter Gamboa scored to give Santa Barbara a 5-4 win. In the semifinal match earlier the same day, Matt Medina scored two goals during overtime to carry the boys into the championship match.

Team members are Lalo Mejia, Matt Willett, Omar Montalvo, Henry Wakamiya, Tobin Fikes, Jelan Hutton, Zach Torres, Peter Gamboa, Alec Larson, Matt Medina, Miko Thule, Tanner Wolf, Mark Beers, Luca Rigonati and Robert Bertha. The team is coached by Matt Winecki.

Winecki praised all of the boys, highlighting the consistency in the performances of the team, with every player contributing throughout the tournament.

Under-15 Boys

A sublime hatrick from Alex Uribe in the semifinal game against Riverside Mgfm Wolfpack produced a well-deserved 3-0 win, taking the team into the championship later that day.

Tied at the end of regulation play against the UIFC South Gate, Santa Barbara’s White team scored two goals in the first half of the overtime period to win the match and the Cal South Boys Under-15 State Championship, 3-1. Both of the overtime goals were scored by Miguel Lucas.

The team is made up of players from Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, Lompoc, San Luis Obispo and Camarillo.

Team members are Troy Ritter, Alex Uribe, Matthew Connelly, Avery Schwartz, Muhammed Mehai, Jeffrey Lovato, Javi Buenrostro, Arturo Zaragosa, Kane Nania, Ryan Richardson, Paul Sullivan, Miguel Lucas, Sachio Badham, Eric Cordova, Rickey Lopez, Kai Gamble and Kenny Pina. The team is coached by Neil Jones.

Both teams now will represent Cal South in Washington in June to take part in the U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV Presidents Tournament.

— Lloyd Biggs is the director of coaching for the Santa Barbara Soccer Club.

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