Gunners’ stellar victory a fitting cap to season
Competing at the US Youth Soccer National Championships, the Beadling girls U-18 team had one final game remaining.
They had no chance to advance beyond group stage after dropping their first two contests, but the group went out determined to cap off a summer of success in fitting fashion.
The Beadling Gunners U-18 team knocked off District 3 champion Louisiana Fire Navy, 4-2, to end the summer on a positive note.
The win also could possibly springboard the group into next season, the last club year for youth soccer at the U-19 level.
“They really put on a performance to win 4-2 over the regional three champion,” coach Erik Duffy said.
In the previous match, Beadling held a 2-1 lead against Carlsbad Elite with 25 minutes left.
“Unfortunately we were just short-handed and they were very good,” Duffy said.
Carlsbad stormed back to win, 4-2, and it went on to win the national championship.
The Beadling U-18 girls were one of three Beadling girls teams to win a Region I title and advance to nationals along with the U-16 and U-19 teams. This was the first time for the members of the Beadling U-18 group to qualify for nationals.
“It was their first time winning a regional championship and they went to nationals and they compete,” Duffy said.
The finals are a culmination of a year-long series of competitions at the state and regional levels.
It was the first time that three teams from the same club advanced to the national championships. Region I is one of four regions that make up US Youth Soccer. It includes teams from Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Rhode Island.
With the exception of Canon-McMillan’s Allison Thomas who will be a senior in the fall, the entire group are recent high school graduates preparing for college. Thomas has already committed to Winthrop.
“We felt no matter who was at regionals, we had a really good chance to compete and win at that level,” Duffy said. “They found a way into the semis and then to the finals.”
The U-18 group has won six PA West cups in seven years.
Duffy coaches the team along with Arne Thomas.
The U-18 girls finished the summer 21-2-2. They did not lose a game until nationals. They went to nationals ranked No. 4 in the country. At the Region I championships, they swept all five games and outscored the competition, 21-4.
There are a number of high school teammates and future college teammates on the Beadling U-18 squad. Casey Aunkst (Duquesne) and Italia Biondi (Toledo) were teammates at Penn-Trafford. Abigail Gillespie (Edinboro) and Kyra Murphy (Duquesne) were teammates at Canon-McMillan. Hopewell’s Abby Losco will join Aunkst and Murphy at Duquesne. Upper St. Clair’s Samantha Lackner and Montour’s Jane Schleicher will play at West Virginia Wesleyan.
Schleicher tied for the lead at nationals with four goals, despite playing only three games.
Peters Township’s Laurel Carpenter (West Virginia University) and Seneca Valley’s Juliana Vazquez (Pitt) will be on opposite ends of the Backyard Brawl in college.
Other players on the team include Hampton’s Katie Felitsky (Edinboro), Pine-Richland’s Leah Roth (UMBC), Greensburg Central Catholic’s Cassandra Sauter (Kent State), Hickory’s Isabella Spadafora, Chartiers Valley’s Emily Tolmer (Carnegie Mellon), South Park’s Jennifer Vietmeier (IUP) and North Allegheny’s Savana Yurick (Vermont).