The two time back to back (2013 & 14) State Cup champion U16 Wild finished top of the standings for the coveted Showcase of Champions in Redmond Washington played last weekend May 16th– 19th. West Coast Wild traveled with their coach Troy Dayak (current girls national youth coach of the year) and several chaperones to experience the great teams of the Pacific Northwest and to see how they would match up against out of state opposition.
Wild played against top team such as the #1 nationally ranked ECNL Crossfire Premier, where many college coaches in attendance thought it was “the best game of the tournament” Wild tied 2-2 in that first game getting goals from Miciah Madison & Emilie Allum assisted by Tori Nicolo and Kasidee Wiley. Wild continued with an impressive 4-0 win over Eastside Timbers and really started to turn the college recruiter heads. Mariah McDuffie, Kasidee Wiley, Melissa Ellis and Misha Brewster netted the goals along with strong play from Sydney Lunt, Rachel Tungol, Demi Gonis, Alyssa Del Castillo, Hanna Beauchamp & Adeline Ruiz. Next up Wild would face the #1 ranked team in WA, the Eastside 97 Red where they battled to a 0-0 result. Wild faced a fresh Washington Premier ECNL team that was brought in for one game only to specifically play the Northern Californian Champion West Coast Wild. Wild showed no signs of 4th game fatigue as they moved the ball masterfully around the well respected and revered WPFC 97 team resulting in great combination play and a fantastic shot by Mariah McDuffie to get the only goal of the game. Wild GK Amanda Valentine would get her third straight shutout as Captains Megan Amick, Autumn Smithers and Emily Allum anchored the defense, coach Dayak noted that injured player Jacey Luzzi was especially helpful as his assistant for the weekend. As part of celebrating their second State Cup Championship and team success coach Dayak took the girls and parents to a once in a lifetime experience where they attended the Seattle Sounders vs SJ Earthquakes MLS game on Saturday night, West Coast was represented well was a part of a sellout crowd of nearly 50 thousand fans. For more information about West Coast or the Wild visit HYPERLINK “http://www.westcoastsoccer.com” www.westcoastsoccer.com