United, Tidal Wave claim soccer titles

The H.B. United, a boys’ Under-12 AYSO Plus team out of Region 56, won its division championship Saturday by defeating Lake Forest, 3-0, on a rain-soaked field.

The match was the finale of the annual season-ending AYSO Plus tournament. The United finished first in an area that includes teams ranging from Long Beach to San Clemente.

Joey De Marco started the scoring with a long, direct kick that found the corner of the net. Johnny Freedman followed with a left-footed goal off a cross from Drake Alvarez and the final score came on a shot by Michael Buntich that found its way through the Lake Forest defense.

Scotty Weaver, Jacob Lesinski, Christian Shaffer and A.J. Garrity working the backfield; Nick Roberts, Greg Welker, Brandon Abrajan and Seth Heinz controlling the midfield, and the play of Sean Noguchi all contributed to the victory.

Billy Morehouse played in the field and in goal and came up with several stops to preserve the shutout.

“Region 56 has never had a U-12 boys’ team win the championship,” United Coach Mike Weaver said. “From the very first practice, our boys dedicated themselves to improving. At first, most of them could not juggle the soccer ball five times in a row. By the end of the season, the lowest number of juggles on the team was 68 and the highest was well over 200 with most in triple digits. This proves how hard they worked.”

The United outscored their competition 17-2 in the tournament. In addition to beating Lake Forest in the title match, they posted tournament wins over South Irvine, Mission Viejo and Costa Mesa.

Tidal Wave rides to area title

The Tidal Wave of Huntington Beach, a girls’ Under-10 team out of Region 56, won its division championship at the Area 11K tournament the weekend of Dec. 9-10.

The Tidal Wave, which won the Pool B portion of the tournament bracket, defeated Pool A winner Long Beach (Region 177), 7-2, in the championship match.

Long Beach had outscored its previous tournament opponents, 10-1, but proved to be no match for a Tidal Wave team that had a 19-0 edge in scoring over their opponents.