| June 4, 2001. The Countryside Lightning U13 Girls defeated Weston for the 2001 Florida State Cup Championship title on Sunday by a score of 3-2. Countryside earned the right to play in the finals by defeating the Manatee Magic 6 - 0 on Saturday. The Manatee game opened in Lightning fast fashion when the Manatee opening kick was intercepted and taken down field for an immediate score at the 24 second mark. Samantha Freedman and Chelsea Zimmerman combined with the defensive play, while Mollie Shaw drove the ball forward up the field. Mollie's cross to Wendy Moenart allowed Wendy to draw in the Manatee sweeper closer while she passed the ball over to Courtney Whidden. Courtney's laser drive to the top left of the net capped off the great scoring play and started the run of six straight goals for Countryside. Gabi Rivera lead all scorers on this day with 2 of the Countryside's six goals and Ashley Durie turned a great performance in the midfield. Sunday's Championship game was a very difficult challenge for Countryside. The girls once again started the game very fast. The first score came at the 4:25 mark on a great tap in from Chelsea Zimmerman. The second goal came 10 minutes later from Vanessa Rangel to give the Lightning a 2-0 advantage. The Weston offense was relentless, however, and the Countryside defenders and goalkeeper Becky Thompson were tenacious in preventing a Weston score. Chelsea Brinkman's goal line save, Kasey Boston's great work from the stopper position, and the great defense of the outside defenders, Caitlin Howard and Tricia Townsend made up a great defensive battle. With 5 minutes left in the first half, a Weston defender drove the ball two thirds of the field and fired a rocket shot from 20 yards out into the top right corner of the net. The half ended at 2-1 for the Lightning. Half-way through the second half, the Lightning were called for tripping in the box and Weston was awarded a pk. They scored on a perfect shot to tie the game at 2. Seven minutes later the Lightning came back when Vanessa Rangel scored off of a patented Annie Stalzer cornerkick. The Lightning never looked back after that and with one great goal keeping save at the end of the game, Julia Wiedor preserved the win and gave the Lightning their second straight State Championship and their first ever State Cup Championship. The 2000/2001 Champion Lighting players are.... # 8 Kasey Boston # 1 Chelsea Brinkman #12 Ashley Durie #17 Samantha Freedman #19 Caitlin Howard #16 Ashley McDowell # 9 Wendy Moenart # 6 Vanessa Rangel #14 Gabi Rivera #10 Mollie Shaw #11 Annie Stalzer #13 Becky Thompson # 7 Tricia Townsend # 2 Courtney Whidden # 0 Julia Wiedor #18 Chelsea Zimmerman Coaches: Greg Brinkman & Ethan Boston Trainer: Hernan Nova |
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| Countryside U13 Girl's Win 2nd Straight Florida Championship! Ranked #1 in Florida, 3rd in South, & 13th in Nation |