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Three local soccer players were moments away from seeing their U12 Vancouver Whitecaps team head into a penalty shootout to decide the championship game at the USA Cup tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota last weekend. Unfortunately for Tsawwassen's Amy Breuers and Ladner's Allie Wiebe and Hayley Flower-Ainge, the Minnesota Tsunami broke a 1-1 deadlock with a long-range strike with only seconds left in overtime. "I remember on the sideline Donn was like, 'OK, I'm getting ready for my shooters now,'" said Flower-Ainge, an 11-year-old defender, referring to coach Donn Sparks. A win wouldn't have been guaranteed if the game went to penalties, Sparks said, but noted his team prevailed in a shootout the day before to reach the finals. "We felt confident going to a shootout, we had a stronger goalkeeper just from what was happening during the game flow," he said. "We wanted to get to a penalty situation, unfortunately the wind thought differently." During the course of the tournament, the Whitecaps faced clubs from Quebec, Hawaii and Minnesota. "Hawaii was probably the weakest one we played. Minnesota was definitely the toughest," said Breuers, 12. Breuers, a forward, netted a pair of goals over the weekend, one during a 4-1 victory over Hawaii in group play. "Amy had a beautiful goal from a corner. She took it, settled it and just finished it in the top corner," Sparks recalled. Despite the close loss in the championship game, spending the weekend in the Twin Cities was a good experience, the three locals agreed. With nearly 900 teams and approximately 13,500 players taking part in the youth soccer tournament, they had a chance to meet people from a number of different countries. Staying on campus at the University of Minnesota, they found time to shoot some hoops with a team from Brazil. "We played a basketball game against them for fun," said Wiebe, 12. Tsawwassen Soccer Club technical director Lothar Breuers, Amy's dad, didn't make the trip to Minnesota but followed the team's progress via the Whitecaps' home on the World Wide Web. "That was really the best way to keep track of how the girls were doing down there. The Whitecaps do a great job of updating their website," he said, adding final scores, photos and game notes were usually posted within half an hour of a match ending. Breuers also received e-mail updates from a fellow parent with a portable messaging device. "One of the other parents down there had a Blackberry. He was e-mailing us literally from the side of the field keeping us informed. It was almost like being there." Making it to the championships of the tournament was no small feat, he said. "With the calibre of competition there, it was really amazing for the team to even get to the finals." published on 07/29/2006 at http://www.delta-optimist.com/issues06/075206/sports/075206sp1.html by Dave Willis

Checkout the hardware we brought home from the USA CUP in Minnesota!

All the Whitecap teams that participated in the USA CUP 2006 (That's me lying on the ground in front.) Thanks Dan Lenarduzzi for such great photos!

Well at least my kicks are consistent Thanks to Lindsay's (Jo's) mom for these photos. More USA Cup Photos

I was thrilled to be a part of The BC Summer Games in Kamloops!! 

Che

"We are the OC . . . The mighty, mighty OC"

It was a long bus ride, practise, warm-up and the ceremonies were 3 hours long!

Here is a pictiure of us after winning our last game. It's hot here in Kamloops!

The Zone 4 Team lost to Zone 5 this morning 1 - 0. It was a heartbreaker because the way the points work they were eliminated from a run at the medals. In Game 3 Allie scored one goal and made one assist. It was hot and the girls played games almost back to back.

Allie Wiebe (#11) gets a hat trick in Game 2 of the BC Summer Games. Team mate (and travel room mate) Samantha Drescher(#10), kicks a monster goal from mid field. Two other goals were scored by Sam Mclusky (#15) Orange Crush (Zone 4 Delta) wins 6-0. Give the video a few moments to load.

The Tsawwassen Triple Threat at Coquitlam Stadium after winning the Coastal Cup.

Here is my Whitecaps team photo after playing the USA Cup Final.

I am usually having way too much fun to remember to take pictures.
Here are a few I did take . . .

Tomorrow we are leaving at 6am on the bus to the BC Summer Games. I am so excited to have been chosen to represent Zone 4 (Delta, Richmond, New West and Burnaby) in this event of a lifetime!

My Dad orginally began to videotape portions of my soccer games because my Granpa had hip replacement surgery and found it difficult to stand on the field for any length of time. I began to enjoy watching the games with my Dad and when I look back at those memories I can see where I need improvement.

My Dad now videotapes every game. I will get him to post highlight here.

CHECK OUT THIS SHOOTOUT WITH THE MONTREAL EXTREME!