Tremendous Tourney Success Highlights Start of 2018-19 Season

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

The heart of the summer tournament calendar got under way over the past two weekends, and with that the Spokane Sounders got things off to a fantastic start at premier tournaments such as the Crossfire Challenge and Davis Legacy Cup. The 2001 Rave Girls and the 2003 Rave Boys highlighted outstanding efforts from several teams at the two events with championship performances.

Crossfire Challenge

The two-week event kicked off with the older teams a week ago and it was a superb, history-making weekend at the College Showcase portion of the festivities as a record number of Spokane teams reached finals of the Super Group tier of competition. Despite the heat, the Spokane Sounders put out a phenomenal effort with three teams reaching Super Group Finals with the G2001 Rave winning the U18/19 title and the G2002 Rave and B2002 Rave sides reaching the championship game.

The 2001 Rave ladies won their group with an unbeaten 2-0-1 performance and got by Eastside FC G00/01 Reign Academy 1-0 in the semifinal before edging Washington Premier G01 in the U19 Super Group championship game. The G2002 Rave side posted a similar run in the event in the U17 Super Group with a 2-0-1 group finish and a 1-0 semifinal victory over Eastside FC Reign before coming up short in a close-fought 1-0 decision against PacNW in the Final. The 2002 Boys Rave side finished second in round-robin action in the U17 Super Group at 1-1-1, but they topped host Crossfire Premier 3-2 in the semifinal and played Central Washington Sounders to a 1-1 draw in the Final. Penalty kicks, however, finished in favor of CWA (6-5) in a lengthy shootout.

Several other teams performed well during the first weekend with G2004 Shale winning the U15 Silver title and B2002 Shale claiming the U17 Silver crown. The G04 ladies went 5-0-0 on the weekend and the B02 fellas were also unbeaten with a 4-0-1 record.

Also reaching knockout play were B2003 Rave in U16 Super and G2004 Rave in U15 Super while the G2000 Rave came close with a second place finish in group play in that U18/19 Super Group. During the second weekend of the Crossfire Challenge the B2008 Valley side reached the U11 Silver Semifinals and the G2007 City Rave team advanced to the U12 Silver semifinals with a perfect record.

Davis Legacy Cup

In addition to the Crossfire Challenge, a pair of boys sides traveled down to California to play in the Davis Legacy Cup, another top college showcase. The B2000 Rave side finished second in their group at 2-1-0 before falling in a close 1-0 semifinal decision, but it was the B2003 Rave side that turned heads down south in the U16 Championship bracket. The boys won their group with a 2-1-0 record to advance to the knockout stage, rebounding from a 2-0 opening loss to San Juan SC Lightning with 6-2 and 7-0 victories. In the quarters they topped Sacramento United 4-2, and followed that up with a 2-0 result against South Valley United in the semifinals to set up a rematch with San Juan. The Spokane Sounders lads would take the title with a 3-2 victory.

Rainier Challenge

The tourney season kicked off for the Spokane Sounders with the Rainier Challenge, where several of our younger teams started things off with a bang. Six teams advanced to the knockout stages of the event The G2009 North side won the U10 Samba bracket with a 2-1-0 group record and 1-0 win in the Final. Also reaching the championship games were the G2008 City (U11 Samba), G2006 Rave (U13 Copa) and G2003 Shale (U16 Samba) with all three falling in narrow 1-0 contests in their respective finals. The G2007 Valley Rave (U12 Copa) and the G2005 Rave (U14 Copa) advanced to semifinal matches.

Sounders FC Cup

A pair of Spokane Shadow sides headed west to take part in the Sounders FC Cup as well and did well. The G2005 Shadow finished second in their group with a 2-1-0 record and the G2004 Shadow posted a 2-1-0 record in their six-team bracket, narrowly missing qualification for the final.

SHARE YOUR PHOTOS!! As always, don’t forget to share your team photos (action, awards or candid off the field stuff) with us via messaging to our Facebook page or emailing Gerald@spokanesc.org (don’t forget to include a description).