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Soccer success for area teams

Paul Danzer: Community sports

The Columbian
Published: February 23, 2010, 12:00am

For the Camas-Washougal Fire and the Tri-Mountain Avalanche, Sunday’s game is a rubber match.

The two Clark County boys soccer teams split their head-to-head meetings this season, so the winner this time will have bragging rights.

Fact is, Clark County soccer already has plenty to brag about. Whether the Fire or the Avalanche leave the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila with the trophy, the Commissioners’ Cup champion among teams for boys born in 1991 will be a Clark County team for the fourth consecutive season.

And that success is only part of the story. Six teams from this neck of the woods will play for Commissioners’ Cup state titles this week. That matches the six Clark County teams that reached the Commissioners’ Cup finals in 2009. Last year, all six won state titles.

Two of this year’s finalists are under-11 age division teams — the Chinook Fire boys team coached by Evergreen High School coach Keenan Burris, and the Prairie Ice girls team.

The other finalists are the Tri-Mountain Strikers in the boys under-14 division and the Prairie Chinook Fire in the boys under-16 tournament.

The Commissioners’ Cup is one of three state championship tournaments staged each winter and spring by Washington Youth Soccer.

The Championship Cup tournament, which concludes for most age groups in May, is for the most competitive teams. It determines the Washington teams that advance to compete for regional, and perhaps national, titles.

The Challenge Cup, which is now reaching the elimination phase, is a tournament for the U-14 to U-17 age groups that allows teams to advance to regional and national tournaments — though not at the championship level.

But the Commissioners’ Cup is the tournament entered by most teams that play competitive youth soccer. So winning this tournament is a significant achievement.

Last year, a Vancouver United team won the title in the boys’ 1991 age group.

That team’s bid to repeat ended with a 3-1 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday. Austin Riley scored twice and Kevin Roberts once for the Avalanche, a team that has six members who were with the team when it first formed in 2004.

The Camas-Washougal Fire advanced with a 2-0 win over a Franklin Pierce team. Second-half goals by Louis Lindner and Tyler Yang lifted the Fire into the finals.

Scores from each of the semifinals involving local teams, along with game times for the finals, are listed in the Community Sports Scoreboard.

Details from some of the other semifinals are included with this column online at Columbian.com.

A reminder to the coaches to shoot me an e-mail with details following the championship matches so I can share that information next Tuesday.

Youth bowling

Champions were determined in six individual categories, two team divisions, and two doubles divisions with the conclusion on Sunday of the 32nd Clark County Youth Bowling Championships, which were held at Tiger Bowl.

Ryan Wadsworth took top honors in the individual division for bowlers whose per-game average is 175 or better. Other singles champions, based on unofficial results (listed in the Community Sports Scoreboard) were Mike Figuracion, Emerson Luke, Wylicia Faley, Cassandra Huit, and Tallen Standley.

The doubles winners were Nick Bruketta and Amanda Van Meter, and Allen Frank, Jr., and Matthew Huit.

Players for the two winning teams were: Katryn comeau, Brooke Updike, Figuracion and Tyler Long; and Wylicia Faley, Cameron Faley, Caitlyn Curry and Brandon Davis.

Clark County bowling’s championship tradition continues with the 29th women’s championship. That event takes place during the first three weekends in March at Tiger Bowl.

Bowlers who want to learn more about the United States Bowling Congress and how it governs amateur bowling are invited to a March 7 meeting at the Elks Lodge in Keizer, Ore. Mike Larsen, the new regional manager for the USBC in these parts, will make a presentation and answer questions. The free event begins at 1 p.m.

For details, contact Ron Walker at the Clark County USBC, 360-694-6348.

Babe Ruth notice

Most youth baseball leagues have completed signups for the season. An exception is Hazel Dell Metro, which is hoping to reach more 13-year-old players.

The Babe Ruth program will hold one more registration event at 10 a.m. on March 6 at the Columbia River High School baseball field.

Details are available at www.hazeldellmetro.com.

Paul Danzer covers Community Sports for The Columbian. Reach him at 360-735-4521 or paul.danzer@columbian.com.

NOTE — Here are a few semifinal match reports submitted by local teams:

Girls U11 Chinook Ice beat a 3-Rivers team 4-3 on penalty kicks. Katie Anthony scored twice, Erin Siegal had a goal. The halftime score was 3-0 Ice. The 3 Rivers scored twice early in the second half, and tied it on a penalty kick midway through the second half. The game stayed 3-3 through two 10-minute overtimes. Megan Sawer made a few key saves in overtime for the Ice. In the PKs, Megan Sawer made a great save on the second 3 Rivers kick. the Ice converted all of their kicks and won the game.

Boys U11 Chinook Fire beat the Franklin Pierce fury 3-1 over the FPSC Fury 98 to reach the final against Crossfire Select next Saturday. Fire trailed 1-0 early and then scored quick goals by Brandon Hazlett and Blake Wollam to take a 2-1 halftime lead. Brandon Palmateer scored the third goal with 14 minutes. Brandon Wolters made eight saves. The backline of Alec Wakins, Erik Rheinhardt, Camden Keller, Palmateer, and Killian Burris that helped preserve the victory.

Boys U12 Chinook Fire lost in the semifinals to the North Kitsap Comets, 1-0. The Fire finished 23-8-3 and were the District 5 champions. Players were: Spencer Baird, nathan Behrens, Jack Bloss, Derek Davis, Tyler Gordon, Magnus Kofoed, Richard Lu, Jordan Moore, Zeke Oien, Elliot Olson, Josh Polen, Ian Sanders, Max Smith, Gavin Southerland, and Trace Whatley. Coaches: Paul Slowey, Adam Falatovich and Nick Falatovich.

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