SAGINAW, Mich. (June 26, 2012) –And then there were 28. More than 200 teams started the quest for a championship and Tuesday 28 teams played their way into the final matches at the US Youth Soccer Region II (Midwest) Championships in Saginaw, Mich. presented by National Guard. The winners of tomorrow’s games will qualify for the US Youth Soccer National Championships in Rock Hill, S.C., July 25-29, at Manchester Meadows. Teams displayed heart, effort and determination to earn a chance to lift the regional trophy.

Two defending US Youth Soccer Region II Champions, Under-15 Boys Chicago Magic and U-18 Boys Grand Rapids Crew Jrs, have the opportunity to win back-to-back titles tomorrow. A regional title will also propel Grand Rapids Crew Jrs to repeat as national championships.

It was a battle of crew affiliates in the first U-15 Boys semi, with Challengers Crew Jrs. Black (OH-N) taking on National League champ CUP Crew Jrs Gold 96/97 (OH-S). Lead by standout Luke Treadway, CUP Crew continued to win seemingly every game it plays and took a 2-0 lead into halftime. That lead would hold through the next 40 and CUP advanced to the regional title game.

Fellow National League champion Chicago Magic (IL) was victorious on semifinals day, as they outlasted Grand Rapids Crew Jrs. (MI) in a penalty shootout to advance to the championship match. Grand Rapids continued to play motivated by the no. 21 patch on its sleeve in honor of fallen teammate Christian Ouding, but weren’t able to convert scoring chances Tuesday against a solid Chicago Magic side. Chicago Magic and CUP Crew will meet in the final to decide a regional champion; however, since both teams have already qualified for the national championships in Rock Hill, S.C. via the National League, Grand Rapids and Challenge Crew Jrs. will also play Wednesday morning to determine the Region II representative at nationals.

In U-18 Girls action, Kolping Kicks SC Schmitt (MO) took early command in its semifinal match against SWISA Rush (IN). Jade Shinn put Kolping on top in just the 5^th minute. Emily Bollinger doubled the lead in the 18^th in what proved to be an insurance goal for Kolping. Many of the girls on this Kolping roster competed in the national championship final game in 2011 with St. Louis Scott Gallagher and are looking to improve on that performance this year.

Their opponent on finals day will be Cincinnati Soccer Alliance Elite (OH-S) who won its semifinal game over Internationals (OH-N) in convincing fashion. Led by a Sydney Lovelace double, her third and fourth goals of the week, Cincinnati moved on to the title game with a 5-1 victory.

2011 regional finalist Lou Fusz SC Gold (MO) scored an early goal as Robbie Adams netted an indirect free kick in the 18 in the 10^th minute. Galaxy 93/94 Blue (IL) would battle back and Josh Rosenbaum leveled the score ten minutes into half time, his first goal in the tournament. Rosenbaum wasn’t done scoring on the day, and he played the hero with a goal in the 88^th minute to send his team to the regional final.

Defending national champions Grand Rapids Crew Jrs (MI) faced a familiar foe as they met up with Waza FC 94 Black (MI) in the regional semifinal. Grand Rapids took the lead in the 31^st minute as Caleb Postlewait buried a PK. Adriel Neely would answer for Waza in the 69^th before Joe Sweet calmly slotted a through ball home to put Grand Rapids back on top in the 67^th. With less than 10 minutes to play, Alex Serwatka found the back of the net to once again pull Waza level and force overtime. With mere moments to play in the final overtime period, Luke Bestrom entered the game and made his presence felt, deflecting a clearance, running onto the loose ball and chipping the keeper to send Grand Rapids back to the regional title game.

Tuesday Scores:

Group	Rep	Away	Score	Rep	Home	Score
Under-13 Girls	KY	Kings Soccer Academy Gold 99	2	WI	FC Milwaukee Blue	2
	Goal Scorers:  KSA - Hailey Siler (13:00), Paige Knorr (11:00) *Advance via PKs
	FC Mil - Jennifer Wandt (63:00), Camille Davre (6:00)
Under-13 GIrls	OH-S	CUP Crew Jrs Gold	3	MI	Michigan Hawks	4
	Goal Scorers: CUP - Maggie Boughner (12:00), Sydney Leshnak (35:00), Maggie Boughner (61:00)
	Hawks - Madeleine Lucas (36:00), Alexa Spanstra (46:00), Megan Young (53:00)
Under-13 Boys	KS	Sporting KC Juniors	1	OH-S	NWC Alliance 98 Black	1
	*Sporting Advances via PKs
Under-13 Boys	MI	Vardar 99	1	IL	Chicago Magic Preacademy	3
	Goal Scorers: Vardar - Vincent Manzo (45:00)
	Magic - Daniel Eloyza (18:00), Daniel Eloyza (35:00), Kevin Pennarrieta (67:00)
Under-14 Girls	OH-S	Warren County United Blue 97	3	OH-N	Ambassadors FC	4
	Goal Scorers: Warren - Allison Miller (19:00), Alisha HImes (35:00), Mallory Homan (46:00)
	Ambassadors - Sarah Krause (3:00), Alexandra Wright (12:00), Olivia Sency (43:00), Sarah Krause (68:00)
Under-14 Girls	KS	KCU Rangers 97/98	3	MI	Vardar West 98	0
	Goal Scorers: KCU - Hannah Miller (13:00), Kylin Grubb (30:00), Grace Lamar (70:00)
Under-14 Boys	MI	Vardar 98	4	IL	Chicago Magic Preacademy 1	1
	Goal Scorers: Vardar - Thomas Dokho (7:00), Matthew Cook (18:00), Thomas Dokho (47:00), Matthew Cook (52:00)
	Magic - Jalil Blalock (68:00)
Under-14 Boys	IL	Libertyville FC 1974	1	MO	Sporting Kansas City Juniors	2
	Goal Scorers: LFC - Nathan Edmunds (13:00)
	Sporting - Seth Hudson (29:00), Dorian Hernandez (35:00)
Under-15 Girls	WI	Lake Country United Red 96/97	3	IN	SFSC Lady Bluez	1
	Goal Scorers: LCU - Daniel Sowinski (19:00), Maria Kass (40:00), Kylie Sprecher (78:00)
	SFSC - Braegan Lyon (56:00)
Under-15 Girls	OH-N	Internationals 96 Red	1	MO	Futura FC Academy Premier	0
	Goal Scorer: Int - Rachel Baughman (35:00)
Under-15 Boys	OH-N	Challenger Crew Jrs. Black	0	OH-S	CUP Crew Jrs Gold 96/97	2
	Goal Scorers: CUP - Luke Treadway (34:00), Charlie Byers (40:00)
Under-15 Boys	MI	Grand Rapids Crew Jrs.	0	IL	Chicago Magic	0
	*Magic Advances via PKs
Under-16 Girls	OH-N	Internationals 95 Red	3	KS	KC Fusion Academy 95/96	0
	Goal Scorers: Int - Emily Ogle (12:00), Emily Ogle (44:00), Emily Ogle (80:00)
Under-16 Girls	IL	FC UNITED	0	OH-N	Cleveland United White	2
	Goal Scorers: Cleveland - Seyla Perez (41:00), Jaycie Brown (45:00)
Under-16 Boys	MO	Lou Fusz Geerling	0	MI	Michigan Jaguars 96 Green	2
	Goal Scorers: Jags - Griffin Parks (13:00), Iain Mason (46:00)
Under-16 Boys	OH-S	CUP Crew Jr Gold 95	0	OH-N	Ambassadors	1
	Goal Scorer: Amabassador - Andrew Bucur (39:00)
Under-17 Girls	WI	North Shore United	2	MI	Michigan Hawks 95 Black	1
	Goal Scorers: North Shore - Taylor Skorik (37:00), Hannah Groth (59:00)
	Hawks - Kara Huber (41:00)
Under-17 Girls	MI	Michigan Football Club 95	0	IL	Team Chicago Academy Botafogo	2
	Goal Scorers: Chicago - Ashley Handwork (29:00), Zoey Goralski (86:00)
Under-17 Boys	WI	SC Waukesha Pumas	0	NE	Omaha FC 94/95 E1	0
	*Waukesha Advanced via PKs
Under-17 Boys	OH-N	Everest SC Black	2	IL	Raiders FC Premier	3
	Goal Scorers: Everest - Riley Grant (19:00), Ronnie Moss (32:00)
	Raiders - Roberto Torres (48:00), Romo Gonzalo (9:00), Kyle Hamann (87:00)
Under-18 Girls	OH-N	Internationals	1	OH-S	Cincinnati Soccer Alliance Elite	5
	Goal Scorers: Int - Christen Westphal (53:00)
	Cinci - Holly Harris (32:00), Sydney Lovelace (35:00), Sydney Lovelace (60:00), Laura Rose (78:00), Morgan Wolcott (80:00)
Under-18 Girls	IN	SWISA Rush	0	MO	Kolping Kicks SC Schmitt	2
	Goal Scorers: Kolping - Jade Shinn (5:00), Emily Bollinger (18:00)
Under-18 Boys	MI	Waza FC 94 Black	2	MI	Grand Rapids Crew Jrs	3
	Goal Scorers: Waza - Adriel Neely (59:00), Alex Serwatka (81:00)
	Crew - Caleb Postlewait (31:00), Joe Sweet (67:00), Luke Bestrom (120:00)
Under-18 Boys	MO	Lou Fusz SC Gold	1	IL	Galaxy 93/94 Blue	2
	Goal Scorers: Fusz - Robbie Adams (10:00)
	Galaxy - Josh Rosenbaum (55:00), Josh Rosenbaum (88:00)
Under-19 Girls	KS	KCFC Intensity 92/93	1	WI	FC Milwaukee Nationals	0
	Goal Scorer: KCFC - Shea Groom (111:00)
Under-19 Girls	MO	St. Louis Scott Gallagher Green - Moser	3	KY	Mockingbird 93 Premier	0
	Goal Scorers: SLSG - Abbey Stock (24:00), RACHEL TEJADA (22:00), RACHEL TEJADA (73:00)
Under-19 Boys	WI	NSC - FCGB New United	0	OH-S	Crew Juniors	3
	Goal Scorers: Crew - William Walker (13:00), Matthew Walker (60:00), Adam  Montague (63:00)
Under-19 Boys	IN	Carmel United SC Elite 93	1	OH-N	Pacesetter Premier	2
	Goal Scorers: Carmel - John Thesing (87:00)
	Pacesetter - Karter Sell (28:00) OG (72:00)

Regional winners of the Under-14 through Under-19 age groups earn a berth to the 2012 US Youth Soccer National Championships July 25-29, at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, S.C.

The US Youth Soccer National Championships will consist of US Youth Soccer Regional Champions in the Under-14 through Under-19 Boys and Girls age groups as well as the US Youth Soccer National League qualifiers in the Under-15 through Under-17 Boys and Girls age groups to complete the field of 60 teams.