Girls slam Swedish Gothia Cup

NEWPORT BEACH — Three dozen 14-year-old girls tossed their soccer gear, put on their bikinis, and crowded the pool.

Some splashed around, and others ate burgers, drank soda, and socialized during a barbecue hosted by the Newport-Mesa Slammers FC under-14 team Thursday.

The guest, a club from Seattle, then watched some of the Slammers admire their new Nike gear, which just arrived after the team won the Manchester United Nike Premier Cup in Oregon.

There were plenty of boxes filled with cleats, running shoes, warm-ups, T-shirts, you name it, and each player received merchandise Larsen said was worth up to $1,500.

Players quickly opened the boxes as if it were Christmas, except for Scarlett Fallon. Her gift was for Coach George Larsen’s daughter.

There was nothing fancy about it. Just a tie-dye shirt, but it brought a huge smile to the future Slammers player’s face. The gesture caught the attention of some of Fallon’s teammates — three in particular — striker Tessa Andujar, midfielder Jordan Dillion and goalkeeper Lindsey Luke, all from Newport Beach.

Fallon makes the shirts as a hobby. Giving one to Larsen’s little one was a way of thanking Larsen for his guidance this season.

Without Larsen, Fallon said, the Slammers wouldn’t be competing in Gothenburg, Sweden at the Gothia Cup, which starts Monday. The all-expenses paid trip by Nike is considered youth soccer’s version of the World Cup, with 65 countries scheduled to compete.

Larsen looked as grateful as his daughter for the T-shirt, but he knows Fallon’s talents on the pitch surpass her tie-dye abilities.

“She’s one of several reasons why we’re one of the favorites in Sweden,” he said of the 5-foot-9 player, who can play anywhere on the field.

Larsen expects the same next year, when Fallon, along with Andujar, Dillion and Luke will be freshmen at Corona del Mar High. The foursome is counting on being a part of the varsity team.

Helping it forget about last year’s 4-11-5 record is a priority. The four are well aware of the struggles under fifth-year CdM Coach Bryan Middleton. And Middleton is well aware of the foursome’s future.

“I’ve heard of them,” said Middleton, sarcastically during a telephone interview, after the four attended his soccer camp.

Middleton coached Andujar’s older sister, Cosie, last year as a sophomore. Cosie earned second-team All-Pacific Coast League honors, and Andujar said her sister has mentioned that some CdM returning players are fearful of the foursome.

“Because we could take their jobs,” said Andujar, whose skill allows her the opportunity to make any team.

She just did Wednesday with the U.S. Olympic Development Program’s Western Regional team. On her first day back from Idaho, where she beat 200-plus players trying out, not everyone knew of her achievement.

“You made it? Congratulations!” said Jordan before adding that many people at school mistake her for Andujar. “We look alike.”

There aren’t many differences. Both stand around 5-foot-1 and they make up for their lack of size with resilient play. Andujar said it comes from her father, who was a competitive kick boxer.

Dillion couldn’t even kick back in September. She tore her left anterior cruciate ligament after practice on the first day of middle school at CdM last year.

“I’ll remember the day now,” she said as if it were her birthday.

Jordan, along with Fallon and Luke, have played vital roles on the Slammers three straight US Youth Soccer Cal South State Championships and two out of three Far Western Regional Championships. Jordan made sure to be a part of the success late in the year.

“I was really proud of her for working hard for six months to rehab and to get back,” said Larsen, whose team after the weeklong tournament in Sweden returns to the states to compete at the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships in Frisco, Texas on July 25-29.

“She’s so experience she brings calmness to the field.”

Luke on the other hand, is put in situations that are far from serene. How about dire? In both the Nike and Far Western Regional events she helped the Slammers win titles in penalty-kick shootouts.

“She’s the best big-game keeper in the age group,” Larsen said. “It wasn’t a position she even chose.”

Whatever it takes to win is how Luke said she viewed her change from scoring goals as a striker to stopping them as a keeper.

Now Luke and the rest of her teammates are trying to accomplish another feat — claim the Gothia Cup and the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship.

“We’re trying to be the only second team in youth history to win state, regionals, Nike Cup, Gothia Cup and the national championship in the same year,” Larsen said. “The only other team to do that was the Slammers under-18 team four years ago.”

Fallon remembers that team. Her sister, Taylor, now at Indiana University, played on it. Asked if her team can match that team’s success, Fallon said, “Definitely.”

She sounded as if it would be as easy as making a splash into the nearby pool.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.