BOISE, Idaho (June 26, 2011) – Teams and sidelines erupted after today's victories. Winners were crowned 2011 US Youth Soccer Region IV Champions and the Under-14 through Under-19 champions have earned a berth to the US Youth Soccer National Championship July 26-31 in Phoenix, Ariz., at Reach 11 Sports Complex.

Notes from Sunday's matches…

Under-12 Girls
Blitz FC Orange 99 (HI) finished just behind San Diego Surf 98/99 White (CA-S) in group play after Surf defeated Blitz 1-0. The two met again in the final and the match was just as tight as neither team could break down the other through regulation and overtime. Blitz ended up on the winning side today however as they prevailed 4-2 on penalties to take the trophy back to the islands.

Under-13 Girls
Pool A in the U-13 Girls seems to have been the group of death as three teams advanced to the quarterfinals and Arsenal FC (CS-S) and Sereno 98 White (AZ) met again in the title game. Arsenal finished atop atop the group heading into the quarters and they proved that was no fluke as they defeated Sereno for the second time to capture the regional crown. Sereno finished third in that group but redeemed an earlier defeat to Real Colorado National in the semis. It looked to be a magical turnaround for the Arizona side after Josee Jacobbellis put them ahead heading into halftime, but Nicole Leggio and Marissa Everett pulled Arsenal through for their second consecutive regional championship.

Under-14 Girls
Arsenal FC (CA-S) had to overcome plenty of adversity to reach the U-14 Girls final versus Leahi 97 Premier (HI), but they showed their resolve as they leave as regional champions. During group play, Arsenal dropped a 1-0 decision to Leahi and tied CISC of Alaska as they won the second seed in the group on tiebreakers. In the final, after coming out of halftime 0-0, Arsenal exploded for three goals in six minutes en route to a 3-0 championship victory over Leahi. Angelina Meriwether led Arsenal with a goal and assisted both Nickole Argentieri and Mckenzie Taylor's goals.

Under-15 Girls
As if Cal-South rivals Slammers FC 95 and So Cal Blues – Draluck don't face off enough, they met up twice in Boise with Slammers claiming the U-15 Girls regional championship to go with their Cal-South state championship. After a 1-1 draw in group play put the two in a tie for top spot, Slammers found the difference in the final with a 2-1 win. MacKenzie Cerda put Slammers in the lead just four minutes in, but the Blues pulled it back in the 27th from Taylor Klawunder. It looked like the final would head to overtime with the same score as six days earlier, but MacKenzie Cerda grabbed the winner with three minutes left to pull out the championship.

Under-16 Girls
After winning the 2009 national championship, Mustang Blast (CA-N) lost out on a chance to repeat as Real Colorado National knocked them off in the 2010 regional final. But Mustang got their revenge this year as they will be back on the national stage after a 1-0 victory over Real today. Ryan Walker scored the lone goal of the match in just the 9th minute, but it held as Mustang are back on top of the region in the U-16 Girls.

Under-17 Girls
So Cal Blues had five teams in the 2011 Region IV Championships, but U-17 Girls So Cal Blues – Dido were the only one to claim the title as they defeated Rio Vista FC 94 Eagles (NM) for the second time this week. After a scoreless first half, Madison Krauser notched the game winner in the 63rd and Jennifer Stanley grabbed the insurance goal as the Blues walked away 2-0 winners.

Under-18 Girls
Real So Cal White were seeking a repeat as they came up just short at last year's National Championships, but their comeback from two goals down against Colorado Rush was spoiled as Rush was triumphant after a penalty shootout. Rush took a commanding first half lead on goals from Madison Yoswa and Denali Murnan, but Kathryn Speidel and Marie Mackenzie pulled Real So Cal back into contention in the second half. After a scoreless overtime, the comeback was ruined in penalty kicks as Rush prevailed 5-4 to take the U-18 Girls regional championship.

Under-19 Girls
In arguably the most exciting final of the day, the U-19 Girls match between Real Colorado National and FC Super Nova (ID) was more of an emotional rollercoaster for the estimated 2,000 fans in attendance as Real pulled out a dramatic last minute victory to take the crown. Real twice assumed a lead over Nova as Ariel Armijo scored first in the 16th before Nova's Miah Mollay leveled in the 35th. Lauren Heap put Real in front again in the 51st, but Nova scored two goals in four minutes from Shalese Miller and Sofia Huerta to sneak in front. That 3-2 Nova lead held until stoppage time and just as the hometown crowd thought they had finally seen an Idaho team take the regional title, Ariela Schreibeis and Heap each scored within a minute in stoppage time to send Real to Phoenix as 4-3 winners.

Under-12 Boys
It was a goal-fest for the U-12 Boys championship as Pateadores (CA-S) scored five goals sandwiched between four goals from Mt Hamilton PAC Atlas (CA-N) to emerge as Region IV champions. Atlas looked like they would run away with the game just six minutes in as Pablo Ramirez Belmon and Serafin Alberto had put the northerners ahead 2-0. But by the end of the half, Pateadores had drawn even through Santiago Galera and Ronaldo Fuentes. Fifteen minutes in the second half, Pats had a three goal cushion as Rodrigo San Roman, Jonick Pineda and Galera had each netted to make it 5-2. Atlas mounted a comeback attempt on strikes from Alberto and Eduardo Lopez Perez, but they would come up short as Pats took home the title.

Under-13 Boys
South Bay Gunners (CA-S) and Crossfire Premier 97 (WA) finished first and second in their preliminary group, with Gunners winning by a single goal. When the two met again for the regional title, Gunners again topped the Northwesterners by one goal to lift the U-13 Boys trophy. As Gunner's defense held firm, Marc Calderon's 50th minute strike proved the game winner for South Bay.

Under-14 Boys
The Fullerton Rangers (CA-S) are putting together an impressive season as they captured the Dallas Cup trophy in March and today claimed the U-14 Boys Region IV title. Cosmos Academy West (CA-S) were the title holders under the name LAFC Chelsea, but Rangers scored a 68th minute goal from Dylan Smith to take trophy 1-0.

Under-15 Boys
San Diego Surf Academy (CA-S) surrendered the lead to Neusport 96 Green (NV) five minutes into the U-15 Boys championship match when Blake Damato struck net, but Surf rattled off four unanswered to take the championship 4-2. Bryce Flores leveled for Surf two minutes after Neusport took the lead and Issac Miselewicz notched the first of his hatrick in the 33rd to put Surf in front for good heading into halftime. Miselewicz finished his trick with 45th and 53rd minute goals before Neusport pulled one back in the 70th from Armando Herrera.

Under-16 Boys
Eastside FC 94 Red (WA) was eliminated in the semifinals in 2010 by Mt Hamilton PAC Tigres (CA-N), who went on to take the championship. But after knocking out 2011 US Youth Soccer National League champion, 2010 National Championship finalist and archrival Albion SC (CA-S) in the semis, Eastside rode the momentum to defeat defending champs Tigres 2-0 for the U-16 Boys title. Kyle Bjornethun tallied the game winner in the 22nd for Eastside and Maxwell Harvey put the game away in the 47th to cap the championship.

Under-17 Boys
Rush Nike 94 (NM) knocked La Roca Premier 94 (UT) out of last year's quarterfinals before losing in the semis. In 2011, the result was the same but the stakes were higher as Rush used an 82nd minute goal to take the U-17 Boys regional crown 2-1. Rush went ahead in the 13th on a strike from Charles Klepac, but La Roca leveled just five minutes later thanks to Parker Dixon. Both teams cancelled each other out until Isaiah Madrid knocked in the winner with eight minutes to play and the Rush defense held strong to deliver the trophy.

Under-18 Boys
Nothing could separate Redwood Palo Alto 93 Blue (CA-N) and United FC Black (CA-S) as each team scored in regulation and overtime before Palo Alto prevailed in penalty kicks for the U-18 Boys championship. United got on the board first in the 18th from Connor Drechsler, but Palo Alto equalized just before halftime on a Zachary Hummel goal. After entering overtime, Palo Alto took the lead from Jose Mendoza, but Bryan Breslin sent the game to a shootout where Palo Alto came out on top 3-2.

Under-19 Boys
Three defending national champions from Region IV were back to attempt a repeat in 2011, but EastSide United FC 91 Liverpool was the only one standing on finals day, and they also failed to make it to Phoenix as Sereno 92 White (AZ) shutdown the champs 2-0. George Malki netted the winner five minutes before halftime and Carey Allen scored five minutes before regulation as the Sereno defense stifled the potent EastSide attack for the U-19 Boys crown.

Sunday's Scores

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