Locals capture AYSO tourney crown

HB Gold, a girls’ soccer team out of Region 56 (Huntington Beach), won the Under-12 division title Saturday at the AYSO Area K All-Star tournament at Centennial Park in Santa Ana.

HB Gold captured the crown by defeating another Huntington Beach program, Region 55, 4-2, in Saturday’s final. The teams had played to a 2-2 tie in an early tournament game.

The tournament was played during the last three weekends in January and included teams from eight AYSO regions, including three (regions 55, 56, 143) from Huntington Beach and two (regions 5, 117) from Fountain Valley.

In Saturday’s final, HB Gold struck first when midfielder Julia Shively scored on a penalty kick. Region 55 then countered minutes later to score the tying goal on a penalty kick, then took the lead on a free kick. HB Gold tied the score again just before the half when forward Caitlin Tracy scored off a well-place corner by halfback Sarah Horner.

HB Gold’s defense, led by Avery Dorff, Roxy Schulmann, Isabel Hadley and Lauren Cawley, shut down Region 55 in the second half. With under five minutes to play, HB Gold broke the tie when Horner placed a pass from Tracy into the top corner of the net from 20 yards out. Shively sealed the victory when she scored from 25 yards out with under a minute to play.

HB Gold, coached by Jevon Hadley and Grant Cawley, will represent Area K at the Section Tournament on Feb. 18-19 at Chapman Sports Park in Garden Grove. The team is: Avery Dorff, Isabel Hadley, Paige Dispalatro, Riley Burke, Julia Shively, Lauren Cawley, Sarah Horner, Taylor Briscoe, Ryann Akita, Roxy Schulmann, Megan Blatt and Caitlin Tracy.

— From Staff Reports