TEMECULA, CALIFORNIA - A full day of matches here in 10 age groups at the Cal South State Cup included a pair of U14 championship tilts, with West Coast FC (Girls) and South Coast Bayern (Boys) earning championship medals and a berth in next month’s Region IV Championships in Albuquerque.

Joe Cantu’s South Coast Bayern team turned in a very thorough performance in defeating Irvine Strikers 5-0, choking down on the middle of the field and then capitalizing on its advantage in possession to attack effectively.

Gus Castaneda’s West Coast squad was equally workmanlike weathering the Arsenal FC attack in the 1st half, and then scoring a pair of decisive goals in the 2nd half with the wind at its back to repeat as State Cup champions. The team also won Region IV last summer, but now has a chance to compete for a U.S. Youth Soccer national title.

“Today was about winning when it mattered. This team has beaten us 6 or 7 times in a row. Since we won regionals, this team beat us at Surf Cup, at our own tournament, in league, in the Far West (Regional League) fall, the Far West spring, but I told the girls the one that matters is to be a National Cup (what Cal South calls the State Cup) champion,” he said. “When you have the chance to win a national championship you have to take that very seriously, because you just never know how often you’ll get the chance. This (Cal South State Cup) is one of the toughest events in the country.”

Castaneda said the match Sunday was fairly even, the difference being his team’s ability to take a couple of chances when the wind was at its back.

“The truth is the elements played a big part. In the 1st half we took one off the bar and had a couple of scrambles in front of our goal. The wind played a factor,” he said. “We knew if we held them off in the 1st half, we would get those chances in the 2nd half.”

Arsenal got a very strong performance from defender Hannah Archeta, who won everything in the air and stepped to the ball decisively as well as covering a lot of ground. Isabella Solorzano was solid at defensive midfield, exhibiting a great work rate and dealing effectively with most of the West Coast attacks.

But West Coast got on top early in the 2nd half when Breanne Chilton-Eddy’s cross rode the wind and a bad hop on a bumpy field to elude the goalkeeper and find the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. West Coast continued to attack, with Hannah Lopiccolo showing some dynamic attacking qualities. Nicole Smolinski was also contributing in a big way with her good ballwinning work at defensive midfield.

As the half wore on Arsenal began to push forward a bit more and Victoria Bolden hit a cross that whistled through the 6-yard box but nobody was able to get a decisive touch on it. Another Arsenal attack was ended by a good tackle from Chloe Hemingway.

West Coast killed off the game in the late going when Lopiccolo reached Kellian Ahearn with a good pass and Ahearn buried the finish for a final scoreline of 2-0 to West Coast.

In the Boys’ final, Bayern’s Jaime Salazar was denied an early goal by a fine save from Irvine goalkeeper Adam Ellingson. Michael Chavez was playing well in the Irvine defense, but Bayern eventually broke through via a great strike from Clay Kelty.

Salazar found the head of Christ Constantini with a good cross, but the resulting header flashed just wide of goal. The Huntington Beach side’s lead was eventually doubled however as Luis Dominguez found Marco Juarez with a good pass and Juarez applied the finish for a 2-0 halftime advantage.

Dominguez scored a goal of his own early in the 3rd period to make it 3-0. Irvine were still trying to play through the middle but were finding themselves flustered by the bigger Bayern side. Oscar Rosales-Cabera was good in the back for Bayern, while Edwin Elizarraraz and Matt Mitchell were effective in clogging up the middle.

Bayern added a couple of goals in the closing minutes. Jaime Salazar scored on a nice chip, then Franky Perez finished from a setup by Rosales-Cabera for the final 5-0 scoreline.

Cantu said shutting down the Irvine attack was the key to his side’s win.

“Before the game we told our team that (Irvine) are a good team who got here because they play a disciplined, 4-4-2 style, but we prepared for them by trying to cut the field in half vertically and making them play in their half of the field, Cantu said. “They couldn’t build their rhythm and once we control that part of the game we can knock it and move with anybody. As soon as we got the 1st goal we started to calm down and play better. Then after the 2nd goal it was the same Bayern style that we want to see- touch and move. It was beautiful. This is my first State Cup too and these guys made my dreams come true today.”

U18 Boys Final: West Coast FC 2, FC San Diego 0
U18 Girls Final: Laguna Hills Eclipse 2, SoCal Blues 1

Other age group finals are next weekend. TopDrawerSoccer.com will be on hand to provide coverage of the Region IV Championships in Albuquerque next month.