The B92 Blue, BU18 team coached by Pete Dapper are the 2011 Challenge Cup Champions!!! Congratulations on a fabulous season.
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Sunday February 13, the GRFC U18 B92 Blue team defeated Crossfire to win the State Cup, ending their youth soccer career on a high note!
The State Cup win for this team completes a season where they went 25-5-2 in all competitions including a last minute loss in the final of the Nomads tournament in San Diego.
To get there they defeated Shoreline Pumas 3-2 in overtime in the semi final on Saturday.
Goals by Alex Velasquez and John Sunday leveling the score at 2-2 at the end of regular time. An incredible bicycle kick goal from Novi Mixich sent GRFC to the finals and made Novi an overnight Youtube sensation!
Minute 7:43 Novi’s “practice” bicycle
Minute 10:00 Danny denied by a couple fingertips
Minute 12:45 Novi’s bicycle kick goal!
Alex scores the last goal on Saturday
The players arrived to bright sunshine the next morning and with both coaches sporting new found exiting ear bling, all omens were good for a great final. The two teams were evenly matched and at the end of the first half were tied 1-1 with the first goal scored by Novi Mixich. With acouple of changes GRFC B92 Blue took over the game in the second half. A second goal by Mixich half way through the second half picked up the momentum as they eased ahead of Crossfire 2-1. With just a few minutes left in the 2nd half, a game ending goal by Alex Velasquez clinched the championships by a final score of 3-1.
At the close of the game the team walked across the field all in a row and gave thanks to their parents and supporters. The tears plainly evident on many faces were not just for the fabulous win that was so well deserved but also for the knowledge that these young men had just finished their last game together. The lessons learned from their youth soccer experience will stay with these young men a lifetime. These young men are confident athletes who will surely give back to soccer what it has given them… a lifetime of memories and achievements, examples of great coaching and great teamwork. Go GRFC!
Team Spotlight - B92 Blue
Together through the years
Neighborhood Soccer team plays great soccer for GRFC
In the fall of 1999, on a grass field at a local elementary school with no goal posts, GRFC B92 was born.Coach Pete Dapper, father of one of the players, volunteered to coach this rag tag team of first grade boys for what he thought might be a couple fun years of soccer.Twelve years later this is the GRFC B92 U-18 team (still coached by Dapper) that just took first place in their division this year and made GRFC and Dapper proud.
This team was also one of the original founding teams of GRFC and many of the players are from the original team started in 1999 who attend Liberty High School.Other members joined the team throughout the years and come from other area schools (Bellevue, Hazen, and Newport just to name a few) and have also been long term players for Dapper.The newest members joined just this year as the team struggled with injuries early on and a few non-returning players.
Pete Dapper says of the team this year, “The thing that is really cool is that while a lot of teams in this age group struggle to find new players, we were able to not only have some new players join the team, but they also really fit perfectly with the players we had and they really enjoy each other.”Dapper adds, “Training is upbeat and well attended and has been almost miraculous.This has been a great way to wrap up this team’s youth soccer experience on a positive note. “
GRFC Director of Coaching, Leighton O’Brien commented, “Pete has done a wonderful job with this group over the years and it’s great to see the team that he has formed this season.It is a diversified group of players and Pete’s leadership has pulled it together and they have performed very well on the field. They should be very proud of their performance this year and in San Diego. ” At the Nomads tournament in San Diego the team placed 2nd in the tournament losing in the last minute of the final game. “Their ranking in the state moved up 10-15 spots this year and you don’t see that very often”, says Dapper. Leighton discusses their performance and added, “GRFC feels great about this team and they have represented the club very well.”
As their final season comes to a close the feelings are bittersweet.It isn’t very often that you can have a group of guys that has played together this long stay together as a team, bring in new players to complement the team and also perform so well.Leighton commented, “This team has the opportunity to do really well in their last state cup.I am excited to watch them in their final state cup run before they are done.I will be there to cheer them on.”
In the fall of 1999, on a grass field at a local elementary school with no goal posts, GRFC B92 was born.
