Courtesy: Southern Maryland Newspaper


Southern Maryland Futsal team wins program’s first-ever national title

Friday, July 18, 2008

By JAMES A. McCRAY III

There was rising Thomas Stone sophomore Kaitlin Evans standing in front of the goal, in front of the Baltimore crowd with the 2008 U.S. Futsal National Championship hinging on her cat-like reflexes, her quick response time and her ability to stop penalty kicks from the LSTS United team from New Jersey.

The New Jersey club had already defeated the U-16 Southern Maryland Futsal Club in the preliminary rounds of the national championship tournament, 2-1.

However, in the championship game on Sunday, after three days of tournament play, the two teams played to a 3-3 tie in regulation –– after LSTS tied the game with a goal with only 20 seconds remaining –– and proceeded through two five-minute overtime periods with no scores.

The championship title hopes were now put on the reflexes of Evans.

‘‘I was really scared,” Evans said. ‘‘I was really nervous. I had so many thoughts going through my head at one time. ... I just knew I had to watch their belly buttons to see where they were going with their shot.”

As Evans allowed two goals, her teammates responded by scoring four penalty-kick goals to win the 2008 futsal national championship delivering Southern Maryland it’s first-ever national championship.

‘‘It was an amazing feeling,” Evans said. ‘‘We all just ran up to each other and started jumping around. We have been through so much and worked so hard to win this.”

‘‘Evans started at goalie the first game against LSTS [July 11] and didn’t have a good game,” said Danny Villagran, head coach and president of the club. ‘‘But she recovered well for the remainder of the tournament. She was a very big part of our success as a team in the tournament.”

The club has been in existence since 1999, and Villagran has patiently waited for this moment.

‘‘I was so excited for the girls,” Villagran said. ‘‘This group understood the concepts of the coaching staff and they translated those concepts onto the field very well. ... They were mentally strong going through two five-minute overtime periods and not allowing any goals. The girls showed a lot of maturity.”

Keah Adair, a rising junior at Northern High School, still reminisces about the victory. However, instead of simply talking about the win, or browsing through pictures, Adair remembers the win in a much different way.

‘‘I still wear my jersey every day,” Adair said with a laugh. ‘‘But it felt really good to win the championship. ... We were winning 3-2 and they scored [a last-second goal] and we had to go into overtime. During the penalty kicks I was nervous. You never know what could have happened.” SMAC athletes filled seven of eight roster spots for the U-16 roster, as Lindsay Smith (North Point), Michelle Grozinsky (North Point), Alysse Houston (St. Mary’s Ryken), Amber Breckenridge (Chopticon), Tina Anzoulatas (Huntingtown), and Kelsey Lowther (Leonardtown) comprised the remaining members of the team.

‘‘We all couldn’t believe that we had won,” Lowther said. ‘‘Coach was really excited and we still talk about it every day. I told my soccer friends and told [Leonardtown girls head] coach [Jennifer] Henderson and she was excited for me. Our team worked really hard and we all felt like we deserved it.”

As success continues to grow for the club –– a national title trumping all previous accomplishments, according to Villagran –– so does its numbers.

‘‘A couple of years ago we had 50 kids,” Villagran said. ‘‘In 2007 we had 75 kids, and in 2008 we had 150 kids. With this national championship, the club may grow stronger.”

And as the club grows stronger, the athletes are able to participate in the national championship and go against strong competition

‘‘Playing has helped me a lot,” Adair said. ‘‘The field is smaller and it allowed me to better my touch skills. Going into next season my touch will be much better.”

‘‘Winning a national title like this gives me the extra confidence going into my high school season,” Evans said.

As the U-16 team won the national title, Villagran’s (SMFC) club finished with three national runner-ups as the Women’s, U-19, and U-11 (u11 lost in PK's) each respectively earned silver medals.

‘‘It was exciting, but a little disappointing,” said Villagran of having four teams total in the championship games but only one walking away with gold. ‘‘All the games saw the teams in positions to win a national title, but each group was strong and each group was committed to our program.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com