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Surf Cup Tournament Success For East Valley Earthquakes
Earthquakes
Back, left to right: Earthquakes Coach Dana Taylor, Assistant Coach Scott McBee, Matthew Salas, Dayne Sturtevant of Knights Ferry, Francisco Lopez, Derek Turn, Jared Alvarez of Waterford, Daniel Dubiel of Oakdale, Isaiah Strong, Mason Ginni, Oscar Govea, Assistant Coach Ysidro Fuentes, Assistant Coach Luis Madrigal. Front, left to right: Adrian Copado, Carlos Amaya, Estevan Moreno, Julian Madrigal, Tyler McBee, Pedro Amaya, Phillip Fuentes, Erick Anaya of Oakdale. - photo by Contributed

The 34th annual soccerloco Surf Cup tournament was held Aug. 2, 3 and 4 for U10 to U15 Boys and Girls. This was a Class I Tournament; open to USYSA, US Club Soccer, Super Y League, and FIFA affiliated teams and is held each year in San Diego, California. The tournament is a nationally recognized premier tournament, rated among the top two in the United States.

Several hundred teams apply each year but only 16 to 20 teams from each age bracket/gender are accepted. The U14 boys bracket included teams from Northern and Southern California, Washington, Chicago, and Hawaii. Canada and Mexico were also represented internationally with teams in this age division.

Earthquakes East Valley 00B Coach Dana Taylor had his boys mentally and physically prepared for what turned into a six-game winning streak. Their skill was shown in the bracket stage with three wins over teams from San Diego, Washington, and Mexico. Facing a local rival Santa Clara Sporting team in the quarterfinal was no easy task but the Oakdale based team defeated them 3 to 2 on Sunday afternoon. Monday morning brought a semifinal match against another Cal North team, San Juan Lightning. East Valley again took an early lead and ended the match with a 3 to 0 victory. Game #6 on Monday afternoon proved to be the hardest fought battle of all. Facing Chicago Magic in the Championship game, East Valley again took an early lead. Ultimately Chicago lost their magic and were defeated 3 to 2 after 70 minutes of play.

Earthquakes East Valley 00B didn’t have much time for celebration as they were headed onto the pitch in Morgan Hill this past weekend in the Santa Clara Sporting Invitational followed by a trip to Danville to attend the Mustangs Tournament later this month.

The roster includes two Oakdale players and one each from Knights Ferry and Waterford in addition to Stockton, Livingston, Salida, Ceres, Modesto, Galt, Los Banos, Turlock and Lodi.