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Fury advance to Presidio tournament semifinals

The Fallbrook Fury under-17 boys team reached the semifinals of the Presidio Premier League Cup.

The club coached by Andy DeSouza won three matches in the tournament and tied one, all against opponents in higher divisions, before a semifinal loss November 12 to a fifth higher-division team.

“I was extremely proud of the boys’ effort and how they overcame adversity,” DeSouza said.

Not only did the Fury excel against higher-level divisions, but the under-17 club also faced opposition from higher-level age groups. “It was a u-19 tournament because they combined the u-17, u-18, and u-19,” DeSouza said. “We were kind of playing up.”

The Fury won the Presidio League AA-A season championship to earn an automatic berth in the Presidio Premier League Cup. The top Premier League teams received first-week byes while lower-finishing Premier League teams, AAA teams, and AA teams competed during the opening weekend. “We were one of the teams that had to play in the opening round,” DeSouza said.

A total of 15 teams in the opening round were divided into five groups of three, and a team had to win its bracket to advance to the following weekend’s rounds. The Fury won its bracket after a 1-1 tie with the Premier division’s RB Renegades November 4 and a 3-1 win November 5 over the under-17 Crusaders from the AAA division.

The Fury advanced to the round of 16 the following weekend and began by playing two matches the morning of November 11. The 8:00 match against the under-19 AAA division Attack club was a 2-2 tie before the Fury won in a penalty kick shootout. The Fury then took on the under-19 Premier division Hotspurs at 11:30. Despite the fact that the Hotspurs were an older club, a higher-level club, and playing their first game of the day while the Fury was engaging in its second match, the Fury advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 win.

“They were fresh and we were tired,” DeSouza said of the quarterfinal match against the Hotspurs.

Three of the four semifinalists were Premier Elite division teams, and the AA-A division Fury ended the tournament with a 2-1 loss November 12 against the under-19 Crusaders from the Premier Elite division. At halftime the game was tied at one goal apiece, and the winning goal was scored about 15 minutes into the second 35-minute half.

“It was a questionable second goal,” DeSouza said.

The referee had blown his whistle for a foul, and the goal came after the whistle but was still allowed. “We weren’t very happy with it,” DeSouza said.

The Fury didn’t appeal the call. “We were just happy to be where we were at,” DeSouza said. “They were just excited to make it all the way to semifinals.”

There was no third place game. The Chula Vista Rangers, who had defeated the San Diego Surf in the other semifinal, won the tournament with a victory in the finals over the Crusaders.

“We were just happy to make it into the tournament,” DeSouza said.

“Basically we just wanted to try to prove ourselves against some tough competition,” DeSouza said. “It doesn’t mean that we’re as good as them, but it means we can compete at that level.”

Because the Fury was a new team in the Presidio League, they were placed in the AA-A division. “The boys spent the whole year at kind of a lower league,” DeSouza said. “We were a brand new team so we were forced to be in that lower league.”

Club soccer will resume after conclusion of the high school season, and in spring 2007 the Fury will apply for a position in the Premier division for the spring league. The California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA) will make that decision, but before that happens the Fury will play in the State Cup in April to try to gain additional wins against Premier division competition.

The CYSA may or may not grant the Fury’s request to be placed in the Premier division, but even if the Fury end up in a AAA division the results of the tournament convinced the Fury players and coaches that the Fallbrook squad could be competitive against Premier division opposition. “It gives us confidence,” DeSouza said.

 

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