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Members of the Imperial Valley Pumas girls under-14 soccer team pose with their coaches after taking second place in the President's Cup title game Jan. 20 in San Diego. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PUMAS / January 28, 2013) |
SAN DIEGO — The Imperial Valley Pumas Premier girls under-14 team reached the finals of the San Diego Soccer Club’s President’s Cup on Jan. 20, but fell in the championship game to the San Diego DMVC Sharks, 6-5, on penalty kicks.
To reach the championship game, the Pumas opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Freeflow. Karina Soto and Ariadna Castro scored for the Pumas. In the second game, the Pumas defeated the San Diego Express Blue, 1-0, with Castro netting the only goal of the contest.
Having already clinched a berth in the final, the Pumas lost their final pool-play contest, falling to the Sharks 2-0, setting up a rematch for the championship game.
In the final, the two teams battled to a 0-0 tie after regulation and two overtime periods. In the first round of penalty kicks, the teams were tied, 4-4, forcing the game into sudden-death penalty kicks. Both teams scored in the first round of sudden-death to make it 5-5, but in the second round, the Pumas missed while the Sharks scored, to make the final 6-5.
Pumas’ goalkeeper Krysten Quiroz had an outstanding tournament, and made a key save in the penalty kick round to force the sudden-death.
The Pumas under-14 girls’ team has been together one year and finished the previous Presidio League in fifth place.
Pumas will next compete in the Desert Classic Tournament in Phoenix on Feb. 8-10 with teams from all over the country, including three from Canada.
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