NATIONAL CUP O6 2018

One thing I want to add is that Strikers North Black is some kind of very well coached team! Ayala is some kind of calm and very well balanced coach. Truly a ‘coach.’ That team came ready to play and executed their game plan. Ayala made adjustments and Galaxy didnt score in the second half. They stuck to their plan and coach was truly ‘coaching’ throughout the game.

I can say the same for KD at SDSC. That team came with a vigor and desire that comes with wanting to bring it! Our girls were up against it the entire game.

Both teams have players that are going to be in the top of the age group for many years to come. Amazing to watch the talent in the age group, the touches of these young ladies with very small space and intensity, the classiness of the parents sidelines (no sarcasm on this one!) and the caliber of coaching! By far this has been the best ‘State Cup’ that I have witnessed in 5 years at this age group. No matter the outcome, nothing but upside for these ladies!!!
 
Congrats to all of the semi-finalists. Any of the final 4 teams is capable of winning this thing. Pretty amazing that since the start of the fall season, these teams combined have played 100+ games and lost less than 10: Legends (2), Surf (3), Galaxy (1) and Blues (3) all playing some consistently high quality soccer. Good luck next week to all!
 
One thing I want to add is that Strikers North Black is some kind of very well coached team! Ayala is some kind of calm and very well balanced coach. Truly a ‘coach.’ That team came ready to play and executed their game plan. Ayala made adjustments and Galaxy didnt score in the second half. They stuck to their plan and coach was truly ‘coaching’ throughout the game.

I can say the same for KD at SDSC. That team came with a vigor and desire that comes with wanting to bring it! Our girls were up against it the entire game.

Both teams have players that are going to be in the top of the age group for many years to come. Amazing to watch the talent in the age group, the touches of these young ladies with very small space and intensity, the classiness of the parents sidelines (no sarcasm on this one!) and the caliber of coaching! By far this has been the best ‘State Cup’ that I have witnessed in 5 years at this age group. No matter the outcome, nothing but upside for these ladies!!!

Agree a really good team in Strikers . We'll see what changes happen when they move to Beach FC. Long ways from Placentia to LBC.
 
06s - National Cup - Final Four
  • LA Galaxy Pre-Academy vs. SC Blues
  • Legends FC Pre-Academy vs. Surf

Semi-Finals and Finals will be played at Galway Downs, which may not look pretty but has held up pretty well with the recent weather we've had.

Galaxy is the favorite in their match-up, but those Blues girls will not go quietly. They've been on a journey as that team has evolved over the last 18 months and a lot of naysayers doubted they'd be as strong as Blues typically fields teams at this age group but they've been resilient. They face one of the more consistent squads in Galaxy over the past few seasons. Contrast in styles to say the least, who will dictate the style of play and come out on top?

Legends vs Surf, a final in itself. Both of these teams are scary when they're on and when they play each other they tend to cancel each other out and it becomes a game of who flinches first. Surf has the pedigree, but this Legends squad is cut from a different cloth and it seems to be culminating in something big. Only one can move on.

I have friends on all 4 squads so I wish their DD's the best of luck and a healthy weekend of the beautiful game! Well done young ladies!
I was curious about how these final four have done against each other this year (W, L, T, GD...all per YSR):

Legends, 4-2-0, +2
Blues, 3-3-1, -1
LAG, 3-4-1, +2
SD Surf, 1-2-2, -3​

However, when looking only at how they have done against their semi-final opponent:

LAG seems to have Blues number recently, going 2-1 with 7 goals for and only 2 against, with their loss coming very early in the year. Blues only gave up more than two goals in a game on four occasions and two of those times were against LAG. I’d say your comment about LAG being the favorite to win this match-up is correct.

Surf and Legends appear to have only played each other one time all year, which I found surprising. Surf won that game (all the way back in July) 1-0. It feels like this is Legends year, but Surf B was able to take them to overtime just last week. This one is a complete toss-up to me. Someone needs to live-stream this game for those of us who can’t be there.​

Of course, I know nothing as I expected CDA and Albion to both win their Round of 16 games!
 
I’d say lagsb was the better team overall today, but blues came in with a clear game plan. They weren't going to let lagsb beat them down the middle and consistently doubled those girls. Difficult to score on the Blues keeper from the outside. Blues dropped back almost completely for the last 10 minutes plus overtimes. Coach was clearly ok taking her chances in pks with that goalie in a small goal. Congrats to lagsb for a great season.

What happened in the other game?
 
I’d say lagsb was the better team overall today, but blues came in with a clear game plan. They weren't going to let lagsb beat them down the middle and consistently doubled those girls. Difficult to score on the Blues keeper from the outside. Blues dropped back almost completely for the last 10 minutes plus overtimes. Coach was clearly ok taking her chances in pks with that goalie in a small goal. Congrats to lagsb for a great season.

What happened in the other game?

Surf 1-0 Legends
 
I’d say lagsb was the better team overall today, but blues came in with a clear game plan. They weren't going to let lagsb beat them down the middle and consistently doubled those girls. Difficult to score on the Blues keeper from the outside. Blues dropped back almost completely for the last 10 minutes plus overtimes. Coach was clearly ok taking her chances in pks with that goalie in a small goal. Congrats to lagsb for a great season.

What happened in the other game?
They dropped back the whole game. Great scheme. But, it’s a coaches plan.
 
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