AYSO Region 69 held the first day of its third annual Debbie Held Invitational Tournament last Saturday in the Palisades and 21 local Under-8 Division boys teams participated. Each team played three 28 minute games, starting at 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 12:30 p.m. The all-star tournament was played on seven different fields. Action was continuous. Between games, teams picnicked, played tag and received trophies. The second day of the tournament will be this Saturday with the U-8 girls teams participating. The tournament is open to teams who supply volunteer referees for the region’s league games throughout the fall season. Teams were organized in ‘pools’ named after international professional soccer leagues. Standings were kept on the basis of results in each pool, and based upon the sportsmanship exhibited by teams, coaches and spectators. In the Premiership pool, the Black Eagles won the championship while the Volcanoes won the Sportsmanship Award. In the Primera Division, the Black Sting were the champions and the Orange Flames took Sportsmanship honors. In the Serie A Division pool, Shockwave and Gladiators tied for the championship and Shockwave took home the Sportsmanship Award. In the Bundesliga pool, the Purple Pythons won both the championship and the Sportsmanship Award. The Silver Falcons won the Major League Soccer pool and the Fireballs took Sportsmanship honors. While the U-8 boys were playing across town, boys and girls in the U-10, U-12 and U-14 age groups began their playoffs at various locations, including the VA Hospital, Brentwood Middle School, Paul Revere and Palisades High. While the U-10 and U-12 division semifinals and finals will be played this weekend, the U-14 division wrapped up its season last Sunday. U-14 Boys Led by forward Augie Bernstein and defender Sam Karp, the Sin Nombres won the division championship with a 1-0 victory over the Trojans. The game-winning goal was scored in the first half by Vincent Van Norden. Trojan forwards Max Ledesma and Luke Mullins pressured Sin Nombre goalie Mack Fraser all game, requiring him to make several acrobatic saves to preserve the win. The Sin Nombres advance to the Area P tournament January 14. U-14 Girls Cameron Dager’s Smurfs beat the T.J. Telbenigs in the championship game. Caroline Workman scored the only goal of the game on a header in the fourth quarter, assisted by Jacqueline Brody. Kellie Mossler and Brody combined for the shutout. The Telbenigs, coached by Jeanne Goldsmith, had upset the top-seeded team, TBA, in the semifinals.
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