SAC U-15 girls finish second in the nation

Like fishermen, the members of the Soccer Association of Columbia U-15 girls Premier team can feel the disappointment of the big one that got away.

Making a second consecutive appearance at the U.S. Youth National Soccer Championships, the SAC team reached the finals for the first time, only to lose to PDA Slammers of New Jersey, 2-1, July 30 in Phoenix.

It was the third time the two teams faced each other in the last month, and SAC has come out on the short end each time.

"The first time we played them, I felt we weren't confident," said Delaney Reiff, of SAC's three-goal loss in the Region I finals.

Region champions advance to the national tournament; SAC earned a berth because of its success in the National League play.

The Columbia squad got a second chance to face PDA during group play at nationals. PDA won that game, 1-0, and both teams qualified for the championship match.

"We went in really confident and we knew that we had the potential to win the whole thing," Reiff said. "We put everything we had into every second of the game. The last two times we've played them it has been so close. We were battling to the last second of the game."

PDA's Lauren Jankowski scored first and Lauren Dimes added a cushion just before halftime. SAC's Margaret Purce popped in her team's only goal in the 73th minute of play. It was her sixth tally of the tournament; she led all scorers in the division.

The loss "was indescribably frustrating," said Imani Dorsey. "That night I couldn't sleep the whole night."

"When we started the season, we knew we had a special group," said PDA coach Michael O'Neill, in an interview. "We have depth in the team and it showed."

The Slammers officially won the Kristine Lilly Cup, which goes to the U-15 girls national champion.

In addition to silver medals, SAC also brought home the Fair Play award.

"It's the second year that we've won that, which says a lot about our team," Reiff said.

"We're still a great team," Dorsey said. "Just because we can't get past this one team doesn't mean that we aren't a good team."

More than half of the SAC team is from Howard County. The squad is coached by former University of Maryland coach Shannon Cirvoski and includes Callahan Allen, Madalene Boccio, Gracyn Bryant, Karli Cirvoski, Katherine Cocozza, Morgan Crable, Dorsey, Margaret Furlong, Jennifer Gavigan, Leah Hardin, Megan Hinz, Danielle Hogarth, Isabelle Kim, Casey Martinez, Danielle Nauman, Purce, Reiff and Sheridan Street.

The numbers of teams involved in the tournament is staggering. The original field of 10,000 teams was narrowed to 60 for the national finals, which are played in age groups.

Only two of the teams were from Maryland — SAC's U-15 girls and the U-19 Baltimore Bays Chelsea, which won the 10th national championship for its program. River Hill graduate Malcolm Manswell has played for Chelsea since he was 16, but other commitments prevented him from playing in the national tournament.