DAVISCOUNTY -- The Utah Futbol Club, Girls U-18 team, made up exclusively of girls from South Davis County, won the Utah Youth Soccer Association State Soccer Championship last week after shocking nationally ranked defending Utah state champion Inter FC, 3-2.
By winning the State Championship, UFC will represent the state of Utah at the Region IV Far West Tournament in Spokane, Washington, June 20-26.
Utah FC had played Inter FC twice before in the last few weeks, once in league play, which they lost 4-2 and last week during State Cup pool play 3-2.
Inter is an elite team which has been nationally ranked and is made up of girls from across the state of Utah, while UFC is made up exclusively of local talent from Davis County.
The championship game was hard fought. Inter FC scored first, leading 1-0 early in the second half. UFC countered with three straight goals in the second half. The first UFC goal was scored by Rebecca Schmidt off an assist by Danica Paul. The second goal was scored by Rachel Callister following an assist by Michelle Ferguson, and the third goal was also scored by Rebecca Schmidt following an assist by Emalee Rogers.
Frantic to salvage a win, Inter FC countered with a late second-half goal that proved to be too little too late, as UFC picked up their level of play and held Inter FC scoreless in the final few minutes until the whistle signaled the end of the game and a new girls U-18 state championship team.
UFC's championship game inspiration was the Cyprus Pirates, the name of an indoor soccer team adopted by several of the senior girls as a means of psyching out their competition. UFC flew a Jolly Roger flag at the sidelines during the game and following their victory the team celebrated the win by circling the field while carrying the flag.
UFC reached the State Championship game by defeating three other teams with players primarily from Salt Lake County,
The Utah FC Girls U18 team is made up of 17 players, 16 players from Bountiful/Centerville and one player from Kaysville. Of the 17 players, 14 attend Bountiful High School, two attend Viewmont High School and one attends Davis High School. The team is made up of seven high school seniors, nine juniors and one sophomore. Many of the UFC girls have played together for a number of years and several were teammates and the core members of this year's Utah State 4A High School Championship Bountiful High School girls' soccer team.
UFC Girls U-18 team members include Madalyn Brian, Cami Butler, Rachel Callister, Emily Clegg, Maritza Erickson, Michelle Ferguson, Julia Mc-Garry, Mallory Jensen, Rebekah Larsen, Erin Max-well, Maria McKenzie, Danica Paul, Sarah Robbins, Jenna Roberts, Emalee Rogers, Rebecca Schmidt, and Jill Sorensen.
UFC's head coach is Chuck Miller, a former local standout soccer player at Bountiful High School, who holds a national USSF C license awarded by the United States Soccer Federation, the governing body for soccer in the United States.
Miller is assisted by Missy Dennis, who started for three years at Viewmont High School and was a four-year star varsity and all-conference player with the nationally ranked Division I University of Utah Women's soccer team. Mike Sorensen, the proud father of one of UFC's standout players, Jill Sorensen, also assists along the sideline.