Youth soccer teams U16 wins Presidents Cup

Mountain Home Youth Soccer Association's U16 Boys celebrated the end of their successful spring season by winning the championship at the President's Cup Tournament in Twin Falls May 16-17.

The Tigers started off slow against the Twin Falls Rapids U15 Saturday morning and found themselves down two goals early in the contest. Mountain Home rallied with scores from Raif Armstrong, JJ Barroso and Erick Gutierrez for a 3-2 victory.

The afternoon match against the Rapids U16 was an evenly matched defensive struggle that ended in a 0-0 tie.

Standings in the five-team bracket placed them against the Rapids U15 again Sunday morning and the result was identical to the previous day's contest -- a 3-2 victory for the Tigers behind the scoring of JJ Barroso and Alex Martinez.

Based on bracket results during the weekend, the boys went into the championship game against the Rapids U16 without ever coming up against the Bonneville Ballistic or their league nemesis, the Boise Capitals Select.

Goals from Erick Gutierrez and Eloy Guadarrama secured the championship title with a 2-1 victory.

Coach Mike Pachner praised the efforts of all the players, saying "the boys rallied behind each other and played as a team."

Team members were: Tony Crownhart, Ben Cumber, Isaiah Daniels, Jalen and Tyson Gibbons, Eloy Guadarrama, Chris Hall, Zach Ireland, Kendal Jackson, Alex Martinez, Ryan O'Neill, Blake Pachner, Casey Pehlke, Brian Raddatz, Fernando Salas, Eric Sweatt and guest players Raif Armstrong, JJ Barroso, Erick Gutierrez and Lucas Marsh.

The U13 Boys action at President's Cup had the Tigers losing to the Twin Falls Rapids 4-0, losing 3-1 to Idaho Rush and ending their hopes of advancing any further in the bracket by having a 2-2 tie with Jackson Hole Premier.

Team members participating in the tournament were: Ricardo Araujo, Tyler Boswort, Francisco Corona, AJ Daniels, Dustin Emerson, Brad and Cole Foreman, Jacob Hedrick, Chance Llewellyn, Austin Lucas, Brenden O'Neill, Jack Richelieu, Tyler Rios, Daniel Salinas, Kylar Schilz, Kalob Tuck and Mady Vines.

The U17 Girls faced similar struggles as they were placed in a U17/18/19 bracket due to the limited number of older age teams.

Their first match against the Twin Falls Rapids U18 resulted in a 4-1 loss, with Jessica Tindall providing the lone score for United. The girls tied their second opponent, Meridian PAL, 1-1,with Tindall again providing the goal.

In a must win game Sunday morning, the girls could not get out of the scoring slump and were shut out in the contest against Sawtooth United U17 by a 3-0 score.

Coaches Paul Walsh and Dan Snelgrow praised the girls' efforts, noting, "the girls never gave up and battled hard. The season was a good experience for our team and hopefully it will carry over into the high school season for the girls."

Team members were: defenders Tasha Belling, Amy Hymer and Nicole Snelgrow; midfielders Erika Castro, Jasmine Deroy and Anastasia Sansone; forwards Adriana Garcia, Shianna Hawley and Jessica Tindall and goalie Alicen Wendall. Other players contributing to the efforts in various positions were Fatima Guillen, Crystal Juarez, Nichole Koopman, Kelly Robins and Kya Vines.