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.