Nationals

That stinks having to go to PKs (losing 5-3) in a National Title game. I bet the weather delay and playing at night benefited the Cali team more. They didn't have to play in late afternoon heat and humidity like Sting has been playing in since Spring & Regionals (Baton Rouge, LA). Too bad they can't go best 2 out of 3.

Great run girls! You should be proud!

Also, they showed the Sting 96 girls warming up for the game during the live pre-game show for the U19 Boys Championship game on Fox Soccer Channel. Pretty wild.

Girls played great tonight. Thought we were the better team. MVLA manager and coach echoed that sentiment. Was very proud of their effort. Will write more tomorrow when I get back to Texas. Hate PKs, although my kid did make hers. North Texas would have been very proud with the effort and class of the girls. Thanks for all of the support and well wishes from our fellow competitors.

Congratulations to Sting....you have everything in the world to be proud of. Always a shame to have PK's decide a game...especially on that stage. I'm sure you did a great job representing NTX on and off the field.

You've got 2-3 weeks to come home and catch your breath....and then we start all over again! Enjoy the great run.

Lonestars 91 won the Championship on PKs. Texas is showing very well.

Final Update:
The trip to Kansas City/Overland Park was awesome. One of our families comes from this area and we had a built in support system from the time we hit town. The kids had places to hang out during the day, they hosted a barbeque dinner for players/parents and we had a Virtual GPS on anything and everything you wanted to do to fill your time. The girls performed far better than I ever would have imagined on the field. We were never outclassed in a game, although the first time we saw MVLA, we were on our heels. Not last night. From the start of the game, the girls took it to The Lightning and matched ability and intensity. One of their coaches talked to my college age player after the game and said, "No team has ever wrecked us like you guys did tonight". It was clear that both of these teams deserved to be in the national title mix. As much as it hurts to lose in PKs, it is consolation that we played 160 minutes against California's best with a 1-0-1 record and no goals allowed.
Not sure who predicted that SAC United would beat MVLA in the semis, but "Are you Kidding Me?" MVLA is, by far, the best team we have seen in this age group outside of Texas. Nice to know that North Texas stacks up pretty well with them.......and that goes for Solar, Texans, Feet, SoRed, etc.
Final thought. The atmosphere last night was electric, and I am not just talking about the storms that kept us delayed. The sidelines were full from end to end, two deep, and the crowd was vocal and involved. Quite the atmosphere to take in the game. Don't know if we will ever get back to this stage, but I can't wait to start trying in the next few weeks. BTW...after getting into our hotel at 1:00am last night and then flying back to Dallas this morning at 7:00am, guess what I did? Yep, heading out to watch a game of soccer out at Richland. Certifiable, if I must say so myself.

ontheball wrote:Great job by Sting. That is a way to show them what North Texas can do. SI, now you know everyone will be gunning to beat the national champions when you return.
Northwatcher, so glad you pulled your dusty computer back out to join the few crazies of us left on the forum.
I want to watch some games!!

Hey, SI here you go. I did make a post.
CONGRATULATIONS TO STING AND THEIR GREAT RUN AT THE NATIONAL TITLE!! North Texas is proud of you.

How can Sting finish number 2 in the nation but according to Got Soccer they are ranked 8th? Got Soccer ranking system is horrible.

turf dad wrote:How can Sting finish number 2 in the nation but according to Got Soccer they are ranked 8th? Got Soccer ranking system is horrible.

Yep, Got Soccer is horrible. Probably a great idea in the beginning but they award way too many points to other regions just for league and State Cups. With many clubs going to ECNL, Got Soccer will basically be useless. No that it already isnt.

ECNL teams will have no need to even register with Got Soccer eventually. No Premiere League, State Cup or Regionals.

The ranking will be done through ECNL.

I like this one the best right now.

They still give too much strength to West Coast and East Coast though. AFC Lightning 96 Elite is not better than the Texans 96, OFC 96, or either Solar team like they rank them.
http://www.nationalsoccerranking.com/rankings.asp?srn=n&mf=G&age=14

All rankings are either too subjective or too inconsistent on the points they give. Maybe we can go to a BCS system.