CB United wins tournament
Members of the Columbia Basin United 96 Navy U-12 girls soccer team pose after winning the Blue Mountain Exchange tournament in Pasco, Wash. Sunday. Pictured in the top row, left to right: Coach Jen Lewis, Alysha Overland, Lizzy McGraw, Brook Stutzman, Paloma McNair, Kimmie Bennett, Haley Berryman, Stephanie Overland, Mikaela Louden, Nick Wallace, Jaz Garcia, and Roni Wenz. Front row: Janelle Fox, Navroop Jhutty, Jeanette Alvarado, Kailey Crawford, Zaira Villanueva and Emma Deering. Chris Overland/Courtesy photo
PASCO, Wash. — The Columbia Basin (CB) United 96 Navy U-12 girls soccer team went to the 2009 Blue Mountain Exchange Youth Soccer Tournament in Pasco this weekend and returned with a tournament championship.
The CB United girls team outlasted teams from Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington to capture the tournament championship for the age division, said head coach Jennifer Lee.
“This is a big tournament,” she said. “It draws Montana’s Olympic development team, Oregon teams and teams from Idaho.”
After a grueling tournament, the CB United girls squared off with a team from Portland, Ore. for the tournament championship, Lee said.
“The team we played (in the championship) was a team from Portland,” she said. “They (FC Portland) were the Oregon state champions last season.”
FC Portland took a 1-0 lead in the first half of Sunday’s championship game and held it well into the second.
With the CB United girls trailing, Alysha Overland took the ball down the field on a breakaway.
Overland tried to attack the goal, before an FC Portland foul in the penalty box set up a CB United penalty kick.
After the foul on Overland, Kailey Crawford scored on the penalty kick to send the championship game to overtime.
Both teams played through the scoreless overtime before heading towards a shoot-out for the championship.
CB United goalkeeper Jeannette Alvarado stopped three consecutive shots from FC Portland players and Janelle Fox and Jazelda Garzia scored to make the difference in the 2-1 shoot-out victory, Lee said.
Lee said it was her team’s determination that helped her team bring the championship home to the Columbia Basin.
“It was their sacrifices over the winter months to get to this level,” Lee said of her team’s work-ethic. “It was genuinely about mental toughness and dedication. It was impressive.”