Mad River Youth Soccer League – Weekend Update

The first weekend in May saw a slew of MRYSL teams on top of their game.

On Saturday, May 3 the U12 Boys came in on top of Rogue Valley’s TNT team at Bloomfield School with a score of 1-0 for their first win of the spring season. The first half saw lots of shots on goal but no one scored until early in the second half when Edgar Martinez was able to slot one in after some great team work by the Mad River boys.


Kaylee, Katerina and Alissa work on their game faces.


Hailey, Alex and Gloriana celebrate a Lightning win.


Korrine and Alex high five another Lightning goal.

The U12 Girls had a pair of shutouts in Oregon, starting Saturday by beating Medford’s Rogue Valley Soccer Club (RVSC) Crush 1-0 with a goal by Brittney Glavich. Sunday the girls again kept their opponents from the scoreboard with a goal apiece for Alissa Thompson-Mooney, Karinne Dadigan and Michaela Schunk. Final score Mad River 3, RVSC Venom 0. Lightning also came out on top in a "friendly" against the Power Strikers, a top ranked U12 Gold level team. The 1-0 match was decided by an under-the-crossbar goal from outside the box by Alissa Thompson-Mooney following a deflected corner kick by Day Robins.

It was a close game for the MRYSL U14 Boys on Sunday, May 4 in Crescent City where Cesar Maldonado and Santiago Reynosa, Jr. had two goals each against a team from Ashland, Oregon. Final score 5-4 Ashland. Meanwhile, the U14 Girls team shut out the RVSC Lightning during a game at Bloomfield School which ended with a score of 1-0 on a goal by Annie Ewald.

The U16 Boys had their second weekend sweep, beating the team from Table Rock Soccer Club (TRSC) on Saturday 3-2 in a tense game that traded goals between TRSC and MRYSL, with Mad River goals by Casey Coelho and Elliott Patzkowsky. Matt Macari got the last Mad River goal to put MRYSL on top. In a driving wind on Sunday at Bloomfield School, MRYSL goalie Jamison Snead kept every RVSC U17 shot from hitting its mark. Late in the second half MRYSL worked some great passes and Patzkowsky put one in the net for MRYSL to end the game 1-0, Mad River.

On Sunday, May 4 at the Rotary field in Eureka, the MRYSL U19 Girls kept the Humboldt Youth Soccer League (HYSL) team from putting any score on the board. Starting with goals by Hannah Garrett and Julia Middlemiss, the Mad River girls were up 2-0 at the half. The second half saw a goal by Aiiya McCarthy and a pair by Mouse Diggins to put the final score at Mad River 5, HYSL 0.

The MRYSL U19 Boys weren’t quite so lucky and reversed the MRYSL/HYSL order in their match against the team from HYSL who won their Sunday game at Rotary field 5-0.

Mad River U17 Girls Soccer Team Travels South to Play Division 1 Soccer

Alyia McCarthy cares for her injured quad last May and is now playing stellar soccer again

Lynae McCarthy concentrates as she brings the ball up the field

By Anna Bernard

When the Mad River United U17 Girls soccer team travels south to play, they often enjoy warmer and drier weather. This was not the case on their recent trip to the Santa Rosa area. Severe stormy weather accompanied the travelers from their departure to their return to Humboldt County. No matter the weather, these soccer trips are necessary to prepare for the California State Cup tournament which takes place in March.

On Saturday, February 23rd at 8pm, the Mad River U17 Girls soccer team played against the Petaluma Fury U19 team at the Lucchesi turf Fields. Coach Nick Parker noted “It is not uncommon for soccer teams to merge once they get into their late teens. This Petaluma team was the result of an older U19 team merging with a younger U16 team.” The Mad River team is also made up of a mix of Freshman, Sophomore and Juniors. No matter their ages, all the girls arrived ready to play some serious soccer. The rain, wind and cold made the playing conditions difficult but both teams played on. Their defensive efforts were rewarded by a 0-0 score at the end of the first half. Mad River’s Center Midfielder Alyia McCarthy scored the only goal of the game, just seven minutes before the final whistle. “Alyia was working hard and really having a major impact on many of the plays. She honestly deserved her goal.” said Parker. Mad River’s defense and goalie Selina Bernard came away with a shutout. After the game, Coach Parker commented, “The United backline demonstrated their best (and most composed) outlet passing of the entire year, even under atrocious weather conditions. This "transition work" allowed us to take the game to the opposition in the second half of the game.”

On Sunday, February 24th at 12:30, Mad River faced more rain and wind in a game against a Santa Rosa Gold U16 team at the Trione turf fields in Santa Rosa. The first goal was scored only seven minutes into the half when a pass back to the United sweeper was intercepted by a Santa Rosa forward. Ten minutes later, Santa Rosa hit their mark again with a nearly perfect shot beyond the reach of Mad River goalie Keri Lorig. In the second half, with the wind on their backs and Selina Bernard in the United goal, the Mad River defense stepped up the pace and kept the Santa Rosa Gold team from scoring. Coach Nick Parker stated “Lynae McCarthy played well both offensively and defensively. She really made a difference in the outcome of the game.” “Lynae’s sister Alyia was always in the midst of the action and making things happen.” continued Parker. Despite their efforts, Mad River was unable to cash in against Santa Rosa. The final score was 2-0 for Santa Rosa Gold.

The next games for Mad River will be at the Northern California Spring College Showcase Tournament on March 8th and 9th in Redwood City. Mad River will face other Division 1 teams as well as Premier Teams during the 2 day tournament. The Juventus Sports Club is hosting this tournament to enable College Coaches to scout out the talent on the fields. More information about the Spring College Tournament can be found on their website. http://www.juventussportclub.org/

Davis College Showcase – December 15-16, 2007

The Mad River United U17 Girls’ Division 1 Soccer team (formerly known as Destiny) traveled to Davis, California to play in the Davis College Showcase Tournament the weekend of December 15, 2007. The challenging Davis tournament, attended by over 20 college coaches scouting for players in U16, U17, and U18 age groups, was the first US Club tournament attended by MR United.

According to Coach Nick Parker, “US Club is a fast growing rival to the California Youth Soccer Association (CYSA). US club is known for its easy registration process, and a free agent mentality that allows players to move around between teams as Guest Players with little bureaucracy, something CYSA has traditionally struggled with. Most Bay area Division 1 and Division 3 teams are registered with both US Club and CYSA. US Club ranks the teams based on prior game results into Divisions A, B or C.”

MR United played their first game on Saturday morning against the hosting Davis Legacy U16 Girls. Both teams controlled the ball during the game with a strong defense for MR United and plenty of shots on goal by Davis Legacy. Although both teams had lots of shots on goal, nothing made it to the back of the net during the first half. In the second half, MR United successfully blocked about ten corner kicks by Davis. The game was scoreless with just a few seconds remaining when a ball found its way out of a scramble in the box into the MR United goal. The final score was Davis 1, MR United 0.

MR United played their second game on Saturday afternoon against a farm team for the Women’s Semi-pro franchise, the FC Rangers U18 team from Sacramento. The FC Rangers launched a high long shot that found its mark just minutes into the game. MR United played a strong defense the remainder of the game keeping everything else out of the box. Unfortunately, MR United was unable to score and the final score remained 1-0 for the FC Rangers.

MR United’s final match-up, against Sacramento United U17 Girls, started Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. Sacramento scored in the first few minutes with a high cross. MR United’s strong defense and goalie Selina Bernard kept the Sacramento team from scoring for the rest of the game. In the second half, MR United’s Sazi Bhakti got past the Sacramento defense to face the goalie one on one. At that point, “stellar efforts were rewarded when Sazi Bhakti bamboozled both two defenders and the Sacramento goal keeper to slip in the tying goal!” The rest of the half saw no score and the games ended with a 1-1 tie.

According to Parker, “We only gave up 3 goals all weekend and that is amazing considering the high level of competition that we faced. We’ve recently suffered the loss of three out of four starting defenders and have had to establish an entirely new defensive line. In the three weeks preceding the Davis tournament, we went from conceding five goals in a practice game, to giving up only three total goals in a top level Division 1 California College Prep Tournament. The team is so much further along than they were this time last year. The High School season has toughened up the girls, and got them into good playing shape. Whereas last year, we played a great defensive game, this year we are stable enough to begin to play some soccer of our own.” Parker continued, "The central defensive partnership of Lynae McCarthy and Carlyn Girard was probably the highlight of the Tourney. Congratulations to Margot Oliver who acquitted herself well in her first taste of this super-level of soccer where everyone is both VERY FAST and PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED! This was truly a team effort and I am very proud of all the girls.”

The MR United team’s participation in the Davis Showcase also resulted in some communications from colleges. Several of the MR United players received recruitment emails from College Coaches expressing interest. Carlyn Girard received a recruitment letter from Jessup University and Selina Bernard received one from Menlo College. This is a very exciting time for the MR United team as they begin to plan for the possibility of playing soccer at the college level.

After the holiday season, the MR United team will resume action in the Petaluma League in the Santa Rosa area where they will face the Santa Rosa and SCA teams.

Mad River United Tackles the Petaluma Winter League

Coach Nick Parker’s U17 Girl’s soccer team played two games in Santa Rosa the weekend of Saturday, January 12 to open the 2008 Petaluma League Winter Season. After the morning trek from Humboldt County to Santa Rosa, sunshine greeted the players at the Trione turf fields where the first game got underway Saturday afternoon against the Marin Football Club U17 Girl’s team.

Mad River Team mounted a solid defense and Marin was unable to score in the first half. Tara Boynton shot high after being fouled within scoring range at the start of the second half, but Marin was the first to the goal only 2 minutes into the second half. Tara Boynton scored the first Mad River goal to tie it up 1-1. Mad River maintained their strong defense and Marin was locked out for the rest of the game. Final score: tied at 1-1.

Early Sunday morning, Mad River met the Santa Rosa United Blizzard U17 Girls on the field to warm up in the chilly morning prior to their 8 a.m. match. Mad River again displayed their defensive strength, shutting Santa Rosa out of the goal the entire first half. Pressure from Santa Rosa set up a slew of corner kicks against Mad River, but Mad River defenders, including sweeper Carlyn Girard and goalie Selina Bernard, worked together to keep Santa Rosa out of the goal to end the first half 0-0. Mad River stepped up their offensive game in the second half but, though the opportunities were there, couldn’t quite get the ball to the back of the net. The score remained 0-0 until, with two minutes to play, a Santa Rosa guest player dribbled the ball down the field and scored. Final score: 0-1 Santa Rosa.

Mad River came away from the weekend happy to have given up only one goal in each closely matched game against these Bay Area Division 1 teams. As it turned out officially, both the Marin Football Club and the Santa Rosa United teams forfeited the games owing to their use of illegal players.

Mad River United U17 Girls play their next league games at the Trione Fields in Santa Rosa the weekend of Feburary 9 and will play in Humboldt State University’s 6-Versus-6 tournament at Redwood Bowl on February 16.

The Marin Football Club can be found at: http://www.marinfc.com/, Santa Rosa United at http://www.srunited.com/index.html, and Mad River Youth Soccer at http://www.mrysl.com.

Undefeated Lightning Takes First Place in League

Mad River Lightning U12 Division 3 girls ended their season in first place. Lightning edged out Rohnert Park Storm by one point, earning 30 league points to Storm’s 29. Eel River Rapids placed third with 16 points.

Teams earned 3 points for each league win, 1 for a tie and 0 for a loss. Ending the season undefeated in league play, Lightning racked up 9 wins, 0 losses and 3 ties. The team entered four tournaments this season, taking home two third place and two first place medals, ending their season with an impressive overall record of 18 wins, 2 losses and 4 ties.

Lightning beat second place finisher, Storm, 2-0 in their first head-to-head league match-up. In the last weekend of league play, Lightning tied Storm 1-1. The league champion title came down to Lightning’s final game against Eureka White; Lightning needed a win to hold on to first place.

The game was tied 0-0 at the half. Lightning coach Joe Homem, who also coaches the successful Arcata High School girls, moved goalie Megan Vina out on the field to fire up the Lightning offense. Shots by Kaylee Holland, Day Robins, Brook Coelho, Alissa Mooney and Michaela Schunk came close but missed the net. Midway through the second half, Alex Campbell scored on a breakaway.

Lightning defenders Katerina Heppe and Hailey Ford held off Eureka White for the remainder of the game. Mad River Lightning beat Eureka 1-0 and earned enough league points to finish their season in first place.

Central Marin shutout Steelhead 4-0

by Pete Shepard

The Central Marin U11B,D1 soccer team blanked the Mad River Steelhead 4-0 last Sunday in a hard fought contest at the Arcata Sports Complex. Although the Marin team dominated play the Steelhead team did have there chances. The Mad River coach praised the play of goalkeeper, Carter Johnson, midfielder Diego Rameriz and forwards Edgar Hernandez and Logan Rooney.

Lightning Strikes Twice: Redwood Classic Champs Win at Eel River

Joe Homem’s U 12 Girls Mad River Lightning took home first place trophies from the Eel River Classic Tournament in Fortuna. As the reigning 2007 Redwood Classic champs, Lightning went to Fortuna confident and came out on top.

Lightning opened the tournament with a 1-1 tie against Eureka Breakers White. Alex Campbell, a.k.a. “Monkey,” scored the first goal for Lightning assisted by a cross from Brooke Coelho. Diving saves by goalie Megan Vina kept the game thrilling and Lightning fans on edge. Eureka White scored the only goal of the tournament against Lightning; Megan Vina and the Lightning defense shut out all other comers.

Lightning took on Napa 96 Saturday afternoon and showed the power of their strong passing game, maintaining possession of the ball most of the game. The first goal was set up by a Day Robins corner kick and knocked off the post and into the goal by Michaela Schunk. Kaylee Holland rocketed a P.K. passed the Napa goalie, ending the game with a 2-0 Lightning win.

☻Lighting Keeper Megan Vina won the Goalie Wars for her age group.☻

To secure a spot in the championship match, Lightning needed to shut-out Eureka Breakers Red Sunday morning and score at least 3 goals to earn 10 tournament points. They met the challenge with a 6-0 early morning win against Eureka Red and headed to the championship match with the highest tournament point total.

Alex “Monkey” Campbell started the Lighting scoring run. Monkey said, “I was happy when I scored one goal because I thought that was going to be my only one, but I was even happier when I scored again and again.”

Forwards Michaela Schunk and Madalyn McCreath added a goal each to Lightning’s total. Allissa Mooney also scored for Lightning, and she accelerated the tempo of the game with her fast-paced aggressive play.

Lightning faced Eureka White Sunday afternoon for the championship. The only goal of the game was scored on a direct kick shot over Eureka’s defense by Katerina Heppe. Katerina, Lightning’s dependable sweeper, was awarded tournament MVP.

The Lightning girls party after their win watching the Women's World Cup!

The Devil Rays Score Success in Sonoma

The U10 D3 Boys Mad River United Devil Rays added to their strong season with a powerful performance in the Sonoma Harvest Cup Tournament. In league play, the Devil Rays have defeated tough teams from Eureka and Fortuna. The Rays traveled to Sonoma ready for some serious soccer competition.

The team started the Harvest Cup Tournament strong with a 4-0 win against a Bay Area squad called Eureka Stealth. Forward Canyon Robins scored a hat trick and midfielder Wyatt Tucker also got one in the net on a long, hard shot. Keeper Kacey Ford saw a lot of action and still managed to shut out the Stealth’s offense with the help of smart defensive play by Cole Urbany, Mathew Mayer and Nick Black.

The Devil Rays played the Gryphons in their second match. Several Devil Rays’ goals were called offsides, leaving the coaches and players frustrated with the refs. Guest player Adison Prentiss relieved Kacey Ford in goal, freeing up Kacey to score the Devil Rays’ only official goal on a well-placed corner kick.

Sunday morning the Devil Rays faced the Fremont Flyers. Canyon Robins repeated with his second hat trick of the tournament. Kacey Ford fired one in for a total of four Devil Rays’ goals. The Flyers came away with two goals. With two tournament wins the Devil Rays were in the running for a spot in one of the final matches, reserved for only the top four teams. The Devil Rays ended the Harvest Cup in a three-way tie for fourth place and headed home after a weekend full of soccer and fun.

Steelhead Struggle

by Pete Shepard

The U11B,D1 soccer team (Mad River Steelhead) played Novato Saturday and came away on the short end of a 3-1 score. The first half saw the Novato eleven score first. Just before half time Diego Ramirez drilled a 20 yarder past a diving goal keeper. Early in the second half Novato scored two excellent long shots to win the contest.

On Sunday the Steelhead team came up against a determined Napa team. The first half was all Napa as they scored three unanswered goals. Two minutes into the second half they scored again. Late in the game the Steelhead team came alive with Logan Rooney scoring on a thru pass from Carter Johnson. Rooney scored the last goal on a Penality Kick. Final score 4-2.

CYSA District 5 Standings for Division 1 U11 Boys as of 9/25/2007:

	TEAM	W	L	T	Pts	GD
1	SCA	3	1	0	9	6
2	Central Marin	2	0	3	9	3
3	Novato	2	2	2	8	0
4	Napa	2	0	1	7	3
5	Healdsburg	2	2	0	6	2
6	Mill Valley	0	2	3	3	-4
7	Mad River	0	4	1	1	-10

U11-D1 Boys at the Sonoma County Classic

by Pete Shepard

The U11B,D1 soccer team the Mad River Steelhead traveled to Petaluma last weekend and played in the US Club sponsored Sonoma County Classic. The Steelhead finished fourth with one win and three loses. On Saturday they beat Sacramento United Barcelona 4-0 and lost to Santa Rosa Aletico 9-1. On Sunday morning the Steelhead lost to the Healdsburg Hounds 6-1. The final match of the day saw the Steelhead team lose 1-0 to the Sonoma County Alliance.

Another Successful MRYSL Soccer Tournament!

by Midge Brown

The 14th Annual Redwood Classic Tournament, organized by Mad River Youth Soccer League, was held August 18 -19 hosting nearly 50 teams of players between the ages of 10 and 19 from across Northern California. The two-day event filled local hotels to capacity and gave out-of-towners a chance to experience some Humboldt hospitality. Tournament games were played at Hiller Park, McKinleyville High School, and the Arcata Sports Complex which was also the venue Saturday night for the annual Goalie Wars and a barbeque dinner attended by more than 500 soccer enthusiasts.

Sweat shirt sales were brisk on a fog-dripping Sunday for those grateful travelers escaping 90+ degree heat inland. Local teams from Arcata, Eureka and Fortuna fared well against teams from as far away as San Jose and Sacramento.

Final Results for the weekend:

U19 Girls D1
1. Nike 90 White - Sacramento
2. Butte Explosion - Chico
3. MRU Destiny – Humboldt County


U18 Girls D3
1. SSJ Freeze - Morgan Hill
2. Solano Storm - Davis
3. Davis Strikers - Davis


U16 Girls D3
1. Laguna Pibas FC – Santa Rosa
2. Missfit Renegades - Redding
3. Missfits Adrenaline - Redding


U16 Boys D3
1. Kaos Wolfpack - Redding
2. Laguna Cachorros – Santa Rosa
3. Redding Rapids - Redding


U14 Girls D3
1. Eureka Breakers - Eureka
2. Lagunas Pibas – Santa Rosa
3. Mad River United - Arcata


U14 Boys D3
1. Eel River Rapids - Fortuna
2. Surge - Redding
3. Eureka Breakers - Eureka


U12 Girls D3
1. Mad River Lightning - Arcata
2. Eel River Rapids - Fortuna
3. Missfit Destroyers - Redding


U12 Boys D3
1. Redding Arsenal - Redding
2. Butte United Lightning - Chico
3. Assault – Anderson




Under 12 Girls Division 3 team, coached by Joe Homem, who won first place in their division this past weekend

Mad River Youth Soccer Player Places 4th in State Science Fair

Bryar Brandvold, a seventh grade student at Jacoby Creek Charter School, Bayside California recently traveled to Los Angeles, California to compete in the 2007 State Science Fair. His project, “Should Soccer Players Wear Protective Headgear?” was evaluated in the product science division where he placed fourth out of over 50 projects. He qualified for the state science fair by receiving first place honors at the Humboldt County Science Fair in March.

His project evaluated the protection provided by three commercially available soccer headgear products. Concussions are not uncommon in competitive soccer from head to head, head to ground and head to goal post collisions and each year one player in the US dies of a soccer related head injury. He assessed the protection provided against blunt impact to both the front and side of a mannequin model by measuring the compression and deformation. He found that each of the products decreased the effects of impact and two models manufactured by Full 90 were particularly effective against blows to the temporal region. This is especially important because this region of the skull is very thin and susceptible to fracture which can result in life threatening epidural hematomas. He also had junior competitive level players evaluate the headgear for playability and found that one of the models (Full 90 Select) was rated higher than their unprotected heads in comfort and quality of heading. Since his project he has been wearing headgear in spring league games and has not found it to adversely affect his game. It wasn’t that long ago when helmets were a rarity in sports like hockey, skateboarding and bicycling; now not donning a helmet for these endeavors would seem absurd. Bryar’s data would suggest a shift toward more widespread utilization of protective headgear in soccer.