San Bernardino Soccer Team Reaches Final
Rick Cobb scored in the fifth minute to give the Blast SC, an under-19 boys’ soccer team from San Bernardino, a 1-0 victory over the Stony Brook (N.Y.) Panthers on Friday during the last of round-robin play at the U.S. Youth National Championships in Germantown, Md.
The Blast SC, along with six other boys’ and girls’ teams from Southern California, advanced to championship matches on Sunday. The Blast SC (1-1-1) will have a chance to reverse a first-round, 2-0 loss to the Houston Texans, champions in 2001.
In other boys’ games, the Irvine Strikers under-17 team (2-0-1) battled to a 0-0 draw with the Chicago Magic (1-0-2), whom it will play again on Sunday; the La Jolla Nomads under-14 team (1-1-1) tied winless Alpharetta (Ga.) Eagles, 2-2, and will play the unbeaten and untied Maryland Bays for the title; and the Palos Verdes Raiders under-15 boys’ team tied the Aiken (S.C.) Fire, 1-1, to finish 0-2-1.
In girls’ play, the San Diego Surf White under-19 team (3-0) beat the Huntington (N.Y.) Magic, 3-0, and will face defending champions in the Michigan Hawks, whom it beat in the first round, 4-1; the Northridge-based West Valley Samba under-16 team (3-0) defeated the Vista (Alexandria, Va.) Firestars, 3-1, and will meet St. Louis Busch SC, whom it beat earlier, 4-0.
The Laguna Hills Eclipse under-15 girls’ team (1-1-1) lost, 2-1, to Chantilly (Va.) Milan (1-1-1) but gets a second chance against last year’s national runner-up in the final; and the Newport Beach-based Slammers FC under-14 girls’ team (2-0-1) tied the Atlanta Lightning, 1-1, and will meet Bethesda Eclipse, whom it beat earlier, 1-0, in the final.
