Crush set to face best of the west

The girls soccer team is heading to New Mexico for regional competition

By Dan Brood

The Times, Jun 21, 2010

submitted photo / for the Times

STATE’S BEST — The Southside Soccer Club Crush won the State Cup championship back in May.

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TIGARD – Teamwork, friendship and a strong possession game.

Put them all together and they can take you places.

Just ask the Southside Soccer Club Crush girls soccer teams.

The Crush, an ages U12 squad, took those elements, won itself a state championship and earned a trip to New Mexico.

The Southside team, which captured the state cup title in May, will now face the top teams from the west coast when it plays at the Region IV championships, which start Monday in Albuquerque, N.M.

“We’re all really excited about that,” Crush center defender Allison Schwarm said during the team’s practice Tuesday at Cook Park. “We’re fortunate to get to go there. We’re going to try to do our best and I think it’s going to be really fun.”

“I think we’re going to do really good,” said forward Madison Shorter, who is the team’s top scorer. “We’re all excited for it.”

“It’s going to be very hot,” forward Haley Clark said. “We’re going to have to drink a lot of water and substitute a lot. We hope to do our best.”

The Crush will open the regionals Monday when it faces Colorado state champion Real Co National in a pool-play contest. On Tuesday, the Crush will play the Avalanche 98 Black from Utah and then the team will play Crossfire Premier-Reynold from Washington on Wednesday.

The regional quarterfinals will be played June 25, the semifinals on June 26 and the championship match will be held June Friday and then the title match will be held June 27, with the champion advancing to play in the national tournament to be held in Kansas in July.

“At the regionals, all of the teams are very good,” SSC coach Kibwe Cuffie said. “Realistically, if we can get to the semifinals, that will be a good accomplishment. But this is a very talented group. They have very good teamwork and they’re all friends off the field. They have tea parties and sleepovers and things like that.”

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