Slammers win regional, look to nationals

The Orange County-based Slammers Futbol Club, a girls under-14 soccer

team, won the Far West regionals in Honolulu Saturday in the squad’s

first berth in the tournament. The California-South champion faced

the Cal-North champion Mustang Blast in a hard-fought championship

game the Slammers won, 2-0.

To get to the finals, the Slammers faced state-champion teams from

Washington, Oregon, Colorado and Hawaii, plus the wild card -- San

Diego Surf -- in the semifinals. The Slammers outscored their

tournament opponents, 18-1.

With this regional championship, the girls will compete in the

Snickers National Cup in Germantown, Md., July 22-27, against the

other three regional champions to determine the national champion.

The team will first travel to Gothenburg, Sweden, to represent the

U.S. in the Gothia World Youth Cup tournament featuring national

champions from abroad.

The trip to the Gothia Cup is sponsored by Nike and was earned

when the Slammers won the Manchester United Premier Cup in Portland,

Ore., during Memorial Day weekend. Highlights of that tournament will

soon be featured on “Nickelodeon.” The girls will travel directly

from Sweden to Maryland for the nationals.

This team is presently ranked No. 1 in the country for their age

group by both youth soccer ranking polls.