29-Aug-2007

PSC members have two things to be proud of as the fall season gets underway. Our Club has grown from 16 to 19 teams this fall, making PSC the largest select club in WMYSA. And our teams did very well at the Portage Soccer Classic this past June with four teams winning championships and another finishing as finalists. In addition, four teams finished first in their league this past spring, validating the Club philosophy that emphasizing player development often leads to good results on the field.

Team photographs of each team earning tourney honors are available on the June 14 news release.

The youngest tourney team, coached by Al Hamilton and Mike Nemeth, was the only U10 girls team to go undefeated. The girls outscored their opponents 14-4, including a 3-2 victory over their closest competitor, the Waterford Lady Warriors. Other victories came over two different Kentwood Falcons teams, one of the stronger clubs at the tournament this year.

The U10 boys Gold team earned some glory of their own after being overshadowed in the regular WMYSA season by the U10 boys Green team that went undefeated while “playing up” a year in the U11 league. The Gold team went undefeated in the Tournament and showed how much progress they’ve made with coaches Vu Le and Dan Wolfe this year. The boys defeated the Kentwood Falcons, Mason Blitz, and Kalamazoo Crew to earn their undefeated status.

Portage Soccer Club's U14 boys team won the Portage Soccer Classic by defeating the Kentwood Falcons 4-1 in the championship game. The team also defeated the Georgetown Rangers and East Lansing Extreme, while playing highly regarded Okemos United to a hard fought draw. In a division consisting of 10 strong teams, including the Charlotte Scorpions, Lansing SC, Kingdom Reserves, SWM Kickers, and Metro Fire, this Portage Lightning squad coached by David Groves and Charles Fritz had good reason to be proud of their first-place trophies.

The PSC U16 girls team surprised the Jr. Irish of South Bend 2-0 in pool play Friday evening, but the Jr. Irish prevailed in the championship match Sunday afternoon. Even so, local observers were happy to see the Portage Lightning hold their own against a strong premier team from Indiana. The Portage girls, coached by Blake Glass and David Rice, controlled the ball most of the match, but the Jr. Irish converted on two restarts 25 yards directly in front of the goal, and that was the difference.

The marquee match of the tournament was the U19 men’s championship. The Portage Soccer Club team used skill and athleticism to cruise through their bracket with victories over Kalamazoo, the Marauders, and the Kingdom Boyz, while a tournament-only team consisting of a number of returning Portage college players did the same in the other bracket. In the final, an unusually large crowd was treated to an impressive display of soccer by both teams, with the PSC team prevailing narrowly, 2-1. This Portage Lightning squad also went undefeated in WMYSA play this spring, outscoring opponents 36-1.