Area youth soccer teams capture crowns

Four Under-10 All-Star teams — girls’ Gold and Silver, boys’ Gold and Silver — from AYSO Region 55 (North Huntington Beach) dominated Area 11 tournament action Jan. 22 and 23 and earned a division championship.

The Region 55 Gold U10 girls’ All-Star team, the Misfits, won seven of their eight games in the tournament. Their lone loss was a 1-0 decision to Region 117, but the teams later met up in the division final and the Misfits came out with a 1-0 win.

The Misfits, who earlier this month won the Hi-5 tournament in Fountain Valley, are: Ellie Saccacio, Renee Wolfe, Maddie Botts, Rena Saccacio, Kyla McNamara, Amy Gitmed, Summer Stewart, Alyssa Blackmore and Alyssa Nichols and coaches Doug Nichols,Sheri Wolfe, Mark DiLauro (head coach) and Tom McNamara.

The Region 55 Silver All-Star team, Chaos, won five straight games to win their division. Chaos is: Ella Davison, Taylor Voegelie, Devin Carty, Natalie Doumanian, Sidney Steiner, Mikayla Conte, Cameryn Cordell, Catherine Wuckert and Vannesa Cahua and coaches Nick Davison (head coach) and Victor Cahua (assistant coach).

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Boys’ Under-10 Division

The AYSO Region 55 boys’ Gold All-Star team took the Area 11 title by defeating Region 117 (Fountain Valley-Huntington Beach), 4-1, in the division final. The team advances to compete Feb. 19 and 20 at the Area 11 AYSO Sectional playoffs.

The team, which improved to 8-0, is: Nick Saccacio, Will Macy, Cory Nicholson, Robert Gerschultz, Elijah Bean, Sean Muirhead, Dustin Herft, Gavin Kennedy and Jason Gunn. The team is led by Steve Gerschultz (head coach) and Ken Gunn (assistant coach).

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The AYSO Region 55 boys’ Under-10 Silver All-Star team went 4-1-1 to win its division at an Area 11 tournament held Jan. 15 and 16 and Jan. 22 at Stanford Middle School in Long Beach.

The local team defeated Region 5 (4-0), Region 117 (7-1) and Region 56 (4-1) and played Region 143 to a 1-1 tie. The undefeated streak came to an end Jan. 16 in a 1-0 loss to Region 177, which scored the winning goal by converting a free kick late in the third quarter.

Region 55 and Region 177 met up again in the division championship match Jan. 22. With Matthew Montegani scoring on a header from a corner kick, Nathan Pouquette scoring on a breakaway and Lucas Catano scoring on a shot from just inside 18 yards, Region 55 stormed to a 3-0 halftime lead and eventually won, 3-1.

The Region 55 boys’ Under-10 Silver All-Star team is: Noah Hickman, Nathan Pouquette, Sinjin Choi, Jag Burden, Lucas Catano, Matthew Montegani, Ben Bucky, Foster Kirkconnell and Julian Falagan. The team is led by Julian Catano (head coach) and Carl Kirkconnell (assistant coach).

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AYSO Region 56

The Firecrackers, a girls’ Under-12 Gold All-Star soccer team from AYSO Region 56 (South Huntington Beach), won its division championship at the Area 11K tournament Jan. 23 at Taft Elementary School in Orange.

The Firecrackers took the title by soundly defeating Long Beach, 4-1, in the final.

The local team went undefeated in six games (5-0-1) during the tournament that spanned two weekends. The Firecrackers scored a tournament-high 33 goals and their balanced attack featured scoring from twins Brielle and Gianna Diliberto, Alexa Tangonan and Kelsey McCarthy. The midfield was controlled by Paige Wilson, Michelle McClain and Thuy Bercher.

The defense, featuring Elin Radziminsky, GiGi Fletcher and Makena Chock, gave up just seven goals in six matches, another tournament low for the team. Goalie Rebecca Byer had three shutouts.

The Firecrackers, led by head Coach A.J. Diliberto and assistant coach Derek Bercher, advance to play at the Area 11 AYSO Sectional playoffs Feb. 11 and Feb. 18 at Chapman Sports Park in Garden Grove.

“The girls won by playing with heart, but became champs by playing with character,” Bercher said of the area title.