YOUTH SCENE: AYSO Region 86 tournament gets under way

Laguna Beach soccer teams in AYSO Region 86 began their annual tournament to determine regional champions last weekend.

In Under-10 division pool play at Thurston Middle School, each participating team competed in either three or four games, depending on their pool/seeding. A victory earned a team six points, a tie was worth three points, and one point was awarded for a shutout win and one point given for each goal scored (a maximum of three). Matches lasted 30 minutes.

? Under-10 Division

Boys’ Pool A: The Silver Spartans, coached by Scott Tenney, continued their unbeaten streak by winning all three of their Pool A games by a combined score of 11-0. The Silver Spartans topped the pool with 28 points.

Boys’ Pool B: The Tornadoes, coached by Pascal DeMilly, took the top spot with 24 points by winning two games and playing to a tie in the third.

Joining the Silver Spartans and the Tornadoes in Saturday’s semifinal round are the Blue Brothers (17 points) and Golden Dragons (19 points). The Silver Spartans will match up against Golden Dragons and the Tornadoes against the Blue Brothers at Thurston.

Girls’ Pool A: Of 10 games played in the pool, six ended in a draw. In the end, the Ice Breakers and the Jolly Ranchers took the top spots and advanced to Saturday’s semifinals.

Girls’ Pool B: The Red Lightning, coached by last year’s regional champion David LaMontagne, captured first place in the pool despite losing, 1-0, to Coach Kelly Brennan’s Green Kicking Machine team that finished in second place.

In Saturday’s semifinals, the Red Lightning will play the Ice Breakers and Jolly Ranchers will host Green Kicking Machine.

Fun and games: After the conclusion of each match, the Laguna teams participated in a separate shoot-out competition by taking shots from the penalty mark. The boys’ U-10 team Black Knights, coached by Chris Bunce and Darren Madrigal, took the honors for the boys.

The girls’ U-10 team Blue Tidal Waves, coached by Scott Spinello, won the girls’ event.

In the final shoot-out of the day, the Black Knights went up against the Blue Tidal Wave and it was the Blue Tidal Wave that won the competition, giving the girls’ divisions their first win over a boys’ team in three years.

? Under-12 Division

Boys: The division held its first weekend action in pool play last week. Men in Black triumphed, 7-1, over the Green Team, the Oranges and Flaming Dragon Balls playing to a 3-3 tie and the Blue Socks blanked Quick Silver, 4-0.

Girls: Opening day outcomes at Top of the World featured the Breakers beating the Bandits (3-1), the Blue Breakers topping the Pink Power Puff Girls (4-1) and That Blue Team edging the Purple Galaxy (2-1).

That Blue Team, which finished in fourth place during the regular season, pulled an upset of a Purple Galaxy team that won the division.

“We are very proud of the girls today,” That Blue Team Coach Todd Thornton said. “They were down 1-0 after the first half and had to come from behind to win.”

That Blue Team assistant coach Dave Ferguson felt his team could pull off the comeback win.

“We had both the offense and defense really focus on their jobs today, and it really paid off,” Ferguson said.

That Blue Team’s forward line is led by top scorer Kira Thornton. Brighid Burnes plays center-forward, the defense is anchored by center-defender Mackenzie Casey, with Caspian Brock, Katelyn Salvino and Natalie Shutts playing at the wings.

The midfield consists of Alexandra Jochim, Maddie Brown, Clair Howell, Katie McCombs and Allison Konno, with Hailey Ferguson tending goal. Anya Gourley plays as stopper, Shelby Clark at the left forward position and all-field player Emily Roberts contributes on offense and defense.

Pool play will continue for all Under-12 teams on Saturday and Nov. 15.

Semifinals and finals will be played Nov. 22.